Pubdate: Mon, 14 Jan 2013
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Copyright: 2013 The Washington Post Company
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/mUgeOPdZ
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491
Author: Juliet Eilperin

CHANGES IN CANNABIS LAWS CREATE A NEW BUZZ FOR HEMP

In the cannabis plant family, hemp is the good seed. Marijuana, the
evil weed. Michael Bowman, a gregarious Colorado farmer who grows corn
and wheat, has been working his contacts in Congress in an attempt to
persuade lawmakers that hemp has been framed, unfairly lumped with the
stuff people smoke to get high.

Somehow over time, as Bowman's pitch goes, hemp, which is used to make
paper, oils and a variety of useful products, was mistaken for its
twin, marijuana - a.k.a pot, chronic, blunt and weed - a medicinal
drug loaded with tetrahydrocannabinol that buzzes the mind. Hemp got
caught up in the legendary crusade against pot popularized by the
movie "Reefer Madness." All varieties of cannabis ended up on the
most-wanted list, outlawed by Congress as well as lawmakers in other
nations, inspiring people to kill it on sight.

Bowman's message is simple: Be sensible. "Can we just stop being
stupid? Can we just talk about how things need to change?"

While the United States ranks as the world's leading consumer of hemp
products - with total sales exceeding $43 million in 2011 - it is the
only major industrialized country that bans growing it, even though 11
states have passed measures removing barriers to hemp production and
research. Ninety percent of the U.S. supply comes from Canada.

Since Colorado and Washington legalized marijuana by ballot
initiatives last fall, a group of farmers and activists have been
pushing to revive a crop they say offers a solution to vexing
environmental, health and economic challenges.

Proponents value hemp both for how it grows - quickly and in a wide
geographic range, without requiring much in terms of water, pesticides
and fertilizers - and what it can produce. Its seeds and oil are
fodder for health and beauty products, while the strength of its
natural fiber makes it a good candidate to be used as a building
composite. Combine hemp with water and lime and you get "hempcrete,"
which can help construct a house; process it differently and it can
make up a BMW's interior door panel.

But Bowman's project to plant 100 acres of hemp on his 3,000 acre farm
on April 30 - to coincide with the 80th birthday of his friend singer
Willie Nelson, known for his support for hemp and marijuana
legalization - could run afoul of the Agriculture Department's farm
program, which helps subsidize his corn and wheat. He also grows
edible beans, alfalfa and, occasionally, sunflowers.

In a statement, Agriculture Department spokesman Justin DeJong said
that since hemp is considered "a Schedule I controlled substance"
under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, it "cannot be grown on
farmland" receiving federal commodity subsidies. If convicted of a
violation, a farmer cannot get subsidies for five years.

Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman Rusty Payne said in a
statement that the controlled-substance law refers "to all cannabis
plants, regardless of their THC content," and that only marijuana
growers with a DEA permit can grow it.

It didn't used to be this way. In the colonial era, Benjamin Franklin
published an article touting hemp's virtues, and Virginia farmers were
allowed to pay their taxes in hemp. A USDA botanist grew a half-dozen
varieties of hemp on federal property in the 1920s. The U.S.
government urged farmers to grow "Hemp for Victory" during World War
II to provide the raw material for ropes, sailors' uniforms and other
supplies.

But a couple of factors - the high taxes the federal government
imposed on growing hemp in the late 1930s and again in the early '50s,
and then the DEA's interpretation of the 1970 law - made producing
hemp nearly impossible.

But starting in 1999, states began to pass legislation making it
easier to either grow industrial hemp or conduct research on it. These
measures, however, have had little practical effect. Since the DEA
only grants permits in rare instances and demands costly, elaborate
security precautions, large-scale hemp growing in the United States is
not viable.

The Canadian government, meanwhile, recently announced it would invest
nearly $100,000 in marketing hemp and researching which varieties
would thrive in different regions of the country.

Canadian Embassy spokesman Chris Plunkett described industrial hemp as
"an important crop" for Canada because it grows well in the northern
prairie "where other crops, due to climate, cannot grow," and can be
rotated in to break disease cycles.

In the United States, its advocates describe hemp in glowing terms. It
can be grown organically with relative ease, and its stalks not only
store carbon but could potentially produce biomass energy. The oil is
rich in protein and Omega-3 fats and can be eaten as well as be used
in products such as Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps. Hemp seeds are sold as
snacks, and it can be made into paper as well as a building composite
to replace fiberglass and in some instances concrete.

Lynda Parker, a Denver-based citizen advocate, learned about hemp
while tracking legislation for a political science class she took in
1996. Five years ago, after retiring, she decided to lobby full time
for legalization.

"If we're serious about climate change and the environment, there is
no single thing we can do that is more impactful," she said.

Parker and Bowman, introduced to each other by a Colorado Department
of Agriculture official, pushed several efforts in the legislature
aimed at reintroducing hemp.

They worked hard to distinguish hemp - which can actually make
marijuana less potent when the two plants cross-fertilize - from pot,
trying to overcome what they called "the giggle factor."

"People would ask, ' Does this mean I can smoke my drapes?' It's
always the drapes," Parker recalled.

Victory came Nov. 6, when Colorado voters approved Amendment 64, which
not only legalized pot but required "the general assembly to enact
legislation governing the cultivation, processing, and sale of
industrial hemp."

Those working on the federal law describe it as a simple matter of
economics. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) who introduced legislation last
Congress with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) to decouple hemp from marijuana
as a controlled substance and plans to push for the bill again this
year, noticed the seeds sold as a snack under the name "hemp hearts"
last summer at his local Costco in Tigard, Ore.

"Why would you say you can sell it at your local Costco, but farmers
around the world get to make most of the money?" Wyden asked.

Even potential Canadian competitors are trying to assist the hemp
vanguard here. As Parker and Bowman worked on their state's ballot
initiative, the Canadian consulate in Denver served as unofficial
advisers. They flew Canadian Mounties and an expert in composites to
discuss the logistics of enforcement and processing hemp once it's
legal and funded Parker's trip to Winnipeg to attend an industry meeting.

"If and when it becomes legal to grow hemp in the United States,
that's just going to add credence and credibility to what we're
doing," said Hemp Oil Canada President Shaun Crew, who has already
registered the name "Hemp Oil USA" for when he opens up shop south of
the border.

Still, that day may be a while off. National Farmers Union President
Roger Johnson, whose group supports legalization, failed to help North
Dakotan farmers overcome federal opposition to hemp cultivation while
serving as the state's agriculture commissioner.

"I don't want to throw cold water on this," Johnson said, with
hesitation in his voice. "We were in this fight for 10 years straight
and got absolutely nowhere."

Crew is in favor of the campaign, though he warned his American allies
not to exaggerate hemp's potential and become convinced "there's a big
pot of gold at the end of the hemp rainbow."

"This isn't the be-all and end-all," Crew said, noting that 15 years
after legalization, hemp occupies only 50,000 acres of land in Canada.
"We're just a blip on the radar screen of agriculture in our two
countries." 
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D