Hemp and Audacity

Farmers as martyrs? That may have been the whole point behind the arrest of two farmers, along with other advocacy group representatives, outside of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for attempting “to plant hemp seeds on the DEA’s lawn to protest against the ban on growing hemp,” according to Tiffany Bridge’s post on We Love DC online.

Hemp, though related to cannabis or marijuana, does not produce any “psychoactive effects itself.” Yet, the cultivation of the strong, fibrous plant is banned in the U.S. as part of the government’s efforts to crack down on the narcotics trade. Processing non-drug industrial hemp is legal across the border in Canada. The farmers taking part in the act of civil disobedience come from North Dakota and Vermont. The Associated Press is reporting that Arlington County police charged the protestors with trespassing.

Currently Barney Frank (Mass) and Ron Paul (TX) are working on bipartisan legislation, the Industrial Hemp Farming Act, which would required the federal government respect state laws with regards to hemp production. Additionally, the Obama administration has issued a directive to federal agencies to respect state laws with regards to hemp production. Nine state currently allow production, according to an article on by Reuters.

Just this week, according to the Associated Press’s York Dispatch, a Kentucky legislator “introduced legislation to legalize industrial hemp as a cash crop and a source for alternative fuels.” There is great hope among hemp-legalization advocates that hemp could be a more sustainable source of fiber for clothing and other products, and that hemp could be used to produce cellulosic ethanol. The plant is legal for research purposes already in Kentucky.

According to the AP story, “[i]ndustrial hemp is used in alternative automobile fuels and in such products as paper, cloths, cosmetics, and carpet. Currently, all hemp included in products sold in the United States must be imported.” The bill introduced for 2010 in Kentucky would “require people wanting to grow or process industrial hemp to be licensed by the state Department of Agriculture.” There would also be a fee for every acre dedicated to the production of hemp.

We shall see what comes from this act of hemp-related civil disobedience.

To read the Reuters article click here.
To read the AP story on the Kentucky bill click here.
To read another AP story click here.
To read the We Love DC post click here.

Posted: 10/14/09