HEMP CULTIVATION, POT DECRIMINALIZATION INITIATIVES APPEAR LIKELY ON
NOVEMBER STATE BALLOTS

South Dakotans will likely vote this fall on an initiative to lift state
criminal restrictions on the possession and production of industrial hemp.
The Secretary of State's office notified initiative proponents that they
had turned in sufficient signatures to place the question on the November
ballot, according to Bob Newland of SoDakNorml and the South Dakota
Industrial Hemp Council, which sponsored the measure.

If approved by the voters, the South Dakota Industrial Hemp Act (certified
as Initiated Law No. 1) would allow farmers to possess and cultivate
marijuana consisting of no more than one percent THC for fiber, food and
other commercial purposes. A 2001 statewide voters' poll showed that 85
percent of South Dakotans support allowing farmers to grow hemp. The South
Dakota Farmers Union also supports the measure.

Over 30 nations, including Canada, Japan and the European Union, license
farmers to grow hemp for industrial purposes. Presently, three states -
North Dakota, Montana and West Virginia - have enacted laws legally
defining industrial hemp as an agricultural crop distinct from marijuana.

Federal law, however, makes no such distinction and prohibits any
cultivation of hemp without federal authorization.