Times
sure
are
tough
for
North
Dakota
farmers
like
David
monsoon.
First
there
were
floods,
then
heavy
snow,
pelting
rains,
and
disease
that
devastated
the
crops.
Last
summer,
Monson
grimly
tended
his
wheat,
barley
,
and
canola
fields
in
Osnabrock
and
watched
neighboring
farms
go
bust.
In
the
fall,
his
profit
was
a
paltry
$25
an
acre.
Meanwhile,
20
miles
away,
across
the
border
in
Canada,
Brian
Mc
Elroy
had
cut
back
on
wheat
and
planted
his
first
crop
of
industrial
hemp.
He
earned
$225
an
acre.
Last
year’s
Canadian
hemp
harvest
was
the
first
since
the
1930’s,
when
anti-marijuana
movies
like
Reefer
Madness
helped
ignite
a
backlash.
One
upshot
was
a
crackdown
on
hemp,
marijuana’s
non-psychoactive
cousin,
in
Canada
and
the
United
States.
Now,
despairing
U.S.
farmers
are
calling
on
the
federal
government
to
follow
Canada’s
lead
and
legalize
the
crop.
They
tout
industrial
hemp,
which
contains
only
negligible
amounts
of
the
mind-altering
chemical
THC,
as
lucrative,
versatile,
and
environmentally
friendly.
Last
month,
the
Virginia
legislature
endorsed
“controlled,
experimental
cultivation
of
the
plant.
Similar
pro-hemp
action
is
pending
in
11
other
state
legislatures,
including
Hawaii
and
Vermont.
Pushing
product.
Worldwide
sales
of
hemp
products
are
booming.
According
to
Hemptech,
a
California
consulting
company,
global
hemp
sales
rose
from
less
than
$3
million
in
1993
to
$75
million
in
1997,
the
latest
figures
available.
Sales
in
the
Unites
States
alone
reached
$50
million.
(Despite
the
ban
on
cultivation,
the
U.S.
government
does
permit
sales
of
hemp
products.)
But
Washington
has
resisted
calls
to
legalize
hemp
farming.
Unless
the
president
issues
an
executive
order
removing
hemp
from
the
Drug
Enforcement
Administration’s
controlled
substance
list,
or
the
DEA
itself
takes
action,
the
states’
efforts
to
scrap
the
ban
ultimately
will
fail.
(President
Clinton
has
yet
to
state
his
official
position
on
the
plant,
but
Hempen
Gold,
a
cream
ale
brewed
from
hemp
seeds,
was
recently
served
on
Air
Force
One.)
The
Office
of
National
Drug
Control
Policy
insists
that
permitting
hemp
farming
would
send
the
wrong
message
to
the
public,
especially
to
young
people.
“Legalizing
hemp
production
may
mean
the
de
facto
legalization
of
marijuana
cultivation”
the
agency
warns
in
a
statement,
claiming
that
marijuana
plants
could
be
hidden
in
fields
of
industrial
hemp.
But
an
unlikely,
former
CIA
Director
R
James
Woolsey,
says
the
agency
is
blowing
smoke.
Not
only
are
densely
planted
hemp
fields
unconductive
to
marijuana
cultivation
but,
Woolsey
maintains,
“If
you
want
to
get
rid
of
marijuana,
there’s
nothing
better
to
do
than
plant
a
lot
of
industrial
hemp.”
The
reason
is
that
hemp
cross-pollinates
with
marijuana
lowering
its
potency.
Woolsey,
who
represents
the
North
American
Industrial
Hemp
Council,
a
lobbying
group,
emphasizes
that
he
opposes
legalizing
marijuana.
The
bottom
line,
he
says,
is
the
hemp
is
“extremely
useful”
in
a
wide
range
of
industrial
applications.
It’s
also
a
plant
with
a
history.
In
colonial
America,
industrial
hemp
was
used
to
manufacture
sails,
rope,
paper
and
cloth.
Thomas
Jefferson
cultivated
hemp.
Drafts
of
the
Declaration
of
Independence
were
written
on
hemp-fiber
paper.
Modern-day
hemp
products
include
cosmetics,
carpets,
salad
oil,
and
snacks,
as
well
as
construction
materials
and
biodegradable
auto
parts.
Hemp
fibers
are
used
in
the
trunk
and
door
panels
of
the
German
manufactured
5
and
7
series
BMW,
and
Ford
is
studying
their
potential
use
in
radiator
grills.
Meanwhile,
the
U.S.
government
continues
to
spend
money
uprooting
hemp.
According
to
DEA
figures,
98
percent
of
the
$7.3
million
the
government
spent
on
marijuana
eradication
programs
last
year
went
to
kill
ditchweed,
a
type
of
industrial
hemp
that
grows
wile.
Frustrated
North
Dakota
farmers
want
to
persuade
the
government
to
stop
just
saying
“No”
to
hemp.
This
year,
Monson,
who
also
serves
in
the
state
legislature,
sponsored
three
pro-hemp
bills.
Their
message:
“we
in
the
North
Dakota
believe
this
is
a
legitimate
crop
that
can
make
us
some
money,
help
the
environment,
and
maybe
save
some
family
farms.
