PETITION DRIVE UNDER WAY TO PUT HEMP ISSUE ON 2002 BALLOT

At first glance, chances are that nobody would expect longtime Mitchell
resident Gladys Baldwin to be a hemp supporter.

But Baldwin - a retired realtor, the daughter of a farmer, an active
community member and a senior citizen - is among those who say it may be a
good idea to legalize the growth and production of industrial hemp in South
Dakota.

A petition, started by Hermosa artist Bob Newland, is criss-crossing its
way through South Dakota, hoping to secure enough signatures to land an
initiated measure on the 2002 ballot that would ask voters to allow the
growth and production of hemp.

Proponents call it smart. In a state where value-added agriculture seems to
be the only way to combat dwindling crop prices, they say hemp production
makes sense.

Foes, on the other hand, say the problems that are guaranteed to follow the
legalization and production of hemp would far outweigh its benefits.

It's a debate that Baldwin is watching closely. "I'm for anything that will
help the farmer," she said.

Hemp Facts

The average Joe calls it ditchweed. Close, but not quite, according to
Diane Sevening, assistant drug studies professor at the University of South
Dakota.

Formerly known as Indian Hemp, the plant belongs to the cannabis family and
is a cousin to sativa cannabis and cannabis indica, or, more commonly,
marijuana. What sets hemp apart from its relatives, Sevening said, is its
potency. "Hemp actually has a very low concentration of THC
(Tetrahydrocannabinol) - the active ingredient in cannabis. So, if a person
were to grow hemp and try to smoke it, it wouldn't be as addictive as
marijuana."

Figures from the North American Industrial Hemp Council, Inc., rate the THC
content of industrial hemp between 0.5 percent and 1 percent. In
comparison, marijuana has a THC content between 3 percent and 20 percent.
Put into perspective, the Council says, a person would have to smoke
between 10 and 12 hemp-made cigarettes in a short timeframe in order to
reach the same psychoactive effect of one low-potency marijuana cigarette.
And, because of hemp's high-fiber content, 10-12 cigarettes would be the
equivalent of digesting three to four doses of a high-fiber laxative.

But potency is not at the heart of the issue, educators and law enforcement
officials say. The law is. Hemp and marijuana both fall under the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Agency's definition of Cannabis sativa - a varied species of
plant which, in the U.S., is illegal to possess, produce or distribute.
Because hemp and marijuana plants look similar and, according to Sevening,
rely on similar types of climates and conditions to grow, law enforcement
officials say hemp producers would most certainly face tight scrutiny.

"We arrest based on probable cause," said Lyndon Overweg, assistant
Mitchell police chief and coordinator of the James Valley Drug Task Force.
"If we think it's probably marijuana, they're going to get arrested."

South Dakota Chief Deputy Attorney General Larry Long agrees. "I don't know
if you could visually distinguish the hemp that would be legal from the
hemp that would be illegal," he said. "In a field of corn, several rows
might be field corn and several rows might be sweet corn, but I'm not
bright enough to tell the difference. I'm sure that's one of the things law
enforcement is concerned about - that they won't be able to tell the
difference."

The James Valley Drug Task Force is staffed with one full-time agent and
manned by representatives from the Mitchell Police Division and Hanson,
Sanborn, Davison and Aurora County sheriff's department officers. Task
force members communicate between each other in an effort to control and
eliminate illegal drug crimes by being both proactive and reactive, Overweg
said.

Proactive measures include the surveillance of presumably cultivated
marijuana plants while reactive measures involve field tests, which
officers administer to the plant itself to determine if the THC agent is
present.

And today, Overweg said, anyone cultivating a cannabis plant, regardless of
the THC potency, faces legal penalties. "Take cocaine," he said. "A small
amount of cocaine or a large amount of cocaine is still cocaine. The
penalty is the same regardless of the potency."

The bottom line, educators and law enforcement officials say, is that
people are innovative.

Sevening said it would not be difficult for industrial hemp growers to
create, grow and harvest plants higher in THC levels by using fairly simple
hybrid methods. "They (growers) could include seeds from cannabis (indica)
into the hemp. Then it could have the same psychoactive effects (as
marijuana)," she said.

The Push To Legalize

Hemp is already growing, in abundance, across South Dakota's prairie.
Newland estimates that roughly half a million acres of the plant exist in
the state today because of, ironically enough, past government efforts.

The U.S. government guaranteed Midwest farmers a market if they could grow
and produce hemp during WWII. Government officials provided seed to farmers
as part of a war effort designed to produce hemp-made rope, parachute and
web belts, and lubricating oils for branches of the military.

And today, Newland said, the U.S. imports nearly $300 million a year of
hemp and hemp-made products, something he finds grossly unfair. "Canadian
hemp is trucked past barely surviving South Dakota farms," he said. "I'm
interested in good government and I think that the governmental stand on
industrial hemp illustrates graphically the absurdity of federal policy on
many things."

Newland, who is also president of the South Dakota chapter of the National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said he has collected more
than 5,000 of the 13,010 signatures necessary to land the measure on next
year's ballot. He has until May 7 to collect the rest. The petition, he
says, asks for hemp to be separated from marijuana by the THC content.
Passage of the measure, he said, would remove South Dakota's barriers on
industrial hemp production.

But that doesn't mean a victory. Cannabis sativa would still be considered
a controlled substance by the federal government, even if South Dakota
voters were to pass Newland's proposed measure. The vote would merely send
a message to Congress. A message, Newland said, that would speak measures.

"During prohibition, 10 states removed their barriers from producing (and
distributing) alcohol," Newland said. "That sent a message to Congress to
change its policies."

Newland's aim is to convince the federal government to change the
controlled substances act and separate hemp from marijuana, something he
says only makes sense. "Hemp seed oil is the direct replacement for diesel
fuel," he said. "South Dakota could produce enough hemp seed oil to meet
the nation's need for diesel fuel. Everyone's talking about renewable
fuels, but they refuse to talk about the best source for renewable fuel."

"As long as I'm a single voice, they can dismiss me as a wacko," Newland
said. "But now that we have 5,000 more voices, we'll be much harder to
dismiss."

The North American Hemp Council currently lists more than 25,000 uses for
industrial hemp ranging from rope to paper to carpet and even soap. Those
numbers, Baldwin says, are hard to ignore. "If we're going to keep
importing it, why not just grow it right here in America," she said. In a
report issued by North Dakota State University's Department of Agricultural
Economics in 1997, researchers recorded 22 countries, including Canada,
which successfully produce industrial hemp.

But numbers aren't everything, according to Michael Held, administrative
director for the South Dakota Farm Bureau. "I've heard the argument, but
I'm sure it wouldn't take very many acres to saturate the market," he said.
"I visited with some Canadian farmers and hemp is a very, very minor crop
in Canada. Plus, they (Canadian farmers) had a surplus of hemp, so farmers
were trying to figure out how to get rid of their product."

The Farm Bureau, Held said, is designed to increase net farm income and
improve rural living. Its membership, recorded at more than 10,000
families, pays a $45 annual fee for its advocacy. Held said hemp growth and
production in South Dakota is neither supported nor rejected by the Farm
Bureau. "We had our annual meeting last week and while we've looked at the
hemp question over the last couple of years, we have not adopted a position
either way."

The South Dakota Farmers Union, on the other hand, passed a resolution to
support Newland's petition at its state convention last week in Sioux Falls.

"There is a possibility for some ag producers to make some money here,"
said Chuck Groth, communications director for the South Dakota Farmers
Union, a farm-advocacy organization with more than 12,000 farm families.

"I don't personally believe that industrial hemp is going to solve the
problems of agriculture in South Dakota or in the country," he said. "It's
no more the answer than raising emus, ostriches or bison - these are niche
markets, and in that light, we view it as something that should be legalized."

Groth calls it a peripheral issue. "We've got other irons in the fire that
we feel are more important to agriculture. We'll (continue) to look at our
commodities, such as wheat, corn and cattle, and we're working on a farm
bill in Washington that will have a much greater impact on how farm
families do in South Dakota over the next few years," he said.