North Dakota to be First State to Issue Licenses to Hemp Farmers

[Gold Metal Flake]

Taken from email message from http://www.VoteHemp.com



Public Hearing on Proposed Rules Set for June 15
Bismarck, ND - May 03, 2006 - In a trail blazing move, North Dakota's Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson formally proposed rules yesterday to license farmers in his state to grow industrial hemp under existing state law. With the backdrop of farmers across Canada planting over 50,000 acres of industrial hemp in 2006 to meet expanding demand for the nutritious and versatile plant in the United Sates, the rulemaking process announced yesterday is an important step towards bringing back U.S. commercial hemp farming that was stopped nearly 50 years ago.

Commissioner Johnson will hold a public hearing on June 15 in Bismarck on the proposed rules prior to publishing final rules later this year. "These rules will implement state legislation, covering the cultivation of industrial hemp in North Dakota," Johnson said. "It is an important step in the process of enabling farmers to grow and sell this valuable crop." The proposed hemp farming rules may be viewed online by clicking here.

In February, Commissioner Johnson, along with Agriculture commissioners from three other states, met with Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officials in Washington, DC to explore acceptable rules on industrial hemp farming. The official meeting marked a turning point in the federal government's relations with hemp-friendly policymakers who have been routinely ignored by DEA officials. This is seemingly an about face for an agency that has threatened to prosecute anyone who tries to grow nonpsychoactive hemp in America.

Some highlights of the proposed hemp farming rules include:

-- Farmers must consent to a criminal background check including fingerprints

--Planted hemp must contain less than three-tenths of one percent tetrahydrocannabinol

-- Who the farmer sells to and how much is sold must be documented within 30 days of sale

-- The location of the hemp field must be provided using geopositioning (GPS) coordinates

[NaturalHigh]

1. I think this is a good thing...

but I hope it's not another part of agriculture that will be taken over by large corporations. Sadly, I fear it will be.

[Sinti]

2. It's about damn time n/t

[saltpoint]

3. Good for North Dakota. Smart, practical move.

'Had the pleasure a couple of times to drive through N. Dakota east to west in summertime, and was astonished by the beauty of the place generally and the sunflower fields particularly.

A knockout.

[kestrel91316]

4. The DEA will NEVER allow this. Federal law trumps state law when it

comes to controlled substances, and hemp is the exact same thing as marijuana as far as the DEA and Justice Dept are concerned.

There's NO WAY they will allow this, because they are STUPID SHORTSIGHTED IGNORAMUSES.

[MercutioATC]

5. Things grow in North Dakota???

I was under the impression that only plastic plants survived that frigid wasteland...

[Qanisqineq]

6. yep

"North Dakota leads the U.S. in the production of at least 11 crops (durum wheat, spring wheat, barley, oats, buckwheat, sunflowers, flax, canola, navy beans, pinto beans, dry peas) and is among the top 3 states in producing wheat, honey, lentils and sugar beets. Each year North Dakotans produce enough wheat to make 17 billion loaves of bread, enough durum to make 90 million spaghetti dinners, enough potatoes to make 232 million servings of french fries, enough beef to make 121 million hamburgers, enough pork to make 49 million chops, and enough milk to fill 1.3 billion glasses. With nearly 40 million harvested acres, North Dakota is and will continue to be a significant contributor to the global supply of food. Our state’s contributions to alleviating global hunger both here and abroad, as well as those of our nation in general, will depend on our ability to develop sustainable agricultural and food technologies, as well as the appropriate policy structures, to increase crop yields, to improve food nutrient contents and to improve food access."

http://www.ars.usda.gov/News/docs.htm?docid=9270


"The vastness of the North Dakota prairie region can be deceptive to many. One can look over most of it and not detect the beauty of the region. It does not rise above you like the mountains do, or surround you like the forest, or break against you like the ocean. You must kneel to see the beauty of a prairie rose, watch closely to see the meadowlark singing its tune or walk among the grain fields to feel the ripening offspring of mother earth in your hand. In the evening the Aurora Borealis dance and the Milky Way makes you think a glowing city is just beyond. All these experiences are a part of the North Dakota prairie region."

<snip>

"The climatic conditions of the region (long days of sunshine and cool summer evenings) lend themselves to this abundance of production. It also takes a vast amount of land to sustain this production. These two factors, together with its people, are why the region is known as the "bread basket" of the world.

"The North Dakota prairie region produces an abundance of crops: It ranks first in the nation in durum wheat, hard red spring wheat, flaxseed and sunflowers. Also, it is second in barley, pinto and navy bean production. In all, North Dakota produced about 230 million bushels of wheat in 1989, second only to Kansas."

http://woodrow.mpls.frb.fed.us/pubs/fedgaz/89-12/edi8912b.cfm


Sorry, my dad's a farmer in North Dakota so I just had to correct you! :)

[MercutioATC]

8. Damn! You learn something new every day!

;)

[Gabi Hayes]

9. this is a beatiful bit of writing...thanks:

The vastness of the North Dakota prairie region can be deceptive to many. One can look over most of it and not detect the beauty of the region. It does not rise above you like the mountains do, or surround you like the forest, or break against you like the ocean. You must kneel to see the beauty of a prairie rose, watch closely to see the meadowlark singing its tune or walk among the grain fields to feel the ripening offspring of mother earth in your hand. In the evening the Aurora Borealis dance and the Milky Way makes you think a glowing city is just beyond. All these experiences are a part of the North Dakota prairie region.==>

Bruce Adams, a Minot, N.D., farmer, is on the Minneapolis Fed's board of directors and is chairman of the bank's Advisory Council on Small Business, Agriculture and Labor, ca. 1989

[DoYouEverWonder]

7. Hemp will grow almost anywhere

that's one of the good things about it. It doesn't need soil improvements, fertilizers or pesticides.

[Gabi Hayes]

11. God's gift, if there is one.....

Imagine a single cash crop that makes better paper than trees, better cloth than cotton, provides medicine for many common illnesses, and can be made into virtually anything from hamburgers to asphalt. All of these wonderful qualities lie in the demonized Cannabis plant, the source of the illegal drug, marijuana. Fear and ignorance about this plant have caused cultivation of all forms of it to be illegalized in the United States; even varieties that are grown exclusively for industrial uses like making clothing, which even the flowering tops of, have no psychoactive use whatsoever. The Cannabis plant is not the brain-killing addictive drug we have all grown up being told of, but instead is a life saver. With more complete and accurate education about this plant, the United States public would feel more secure with domestically farming and manufacturing hemp and legally providing marijuana-based drugs to patients who’s life depends one it. This high-yield cash crop would prove a stabilizing force in the U.S. economy, just as it once had in the colonial times.

http://www.exampleessays.com/viewpaper/28653.html
the first paragraph's free...pay to see the rest, ha

http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/hemp/potbible.htm

[hootinholler]

17. One of the three of the godess' gifts

Sugar: found in fruit, etc.
Yeast: A handy little critter.
Hemp: You can make damned near anything out of this plant.

-Hoot

[Gold Metal Flake]

22. My dream is a new cash crop for family farms.

One that will aid in localizing economies in rural areas.

Seeds for oil, fibers for paper.

Oil becomes biodiesel for transpo and stationary engines and for heating oil. And we all use paper.

There is a hemp farming bill in the Califonia congress as well. CA Industrial Hemp Farming Act (AB 1147)

[KingFlorez]

10. Economic Liberalism

This could potential bring in money to the state, so it's a smart decision. Even the reddest states can be economically liberal.

[ourbluenation]

12. K and R - it's not soon enough. Hemp is a uber resource...

good for them.

[Gabi Hayes]

13. btw, quite the bumper sticker!

[Gold Metal Flake]

20. That's my plan for it, as we move closer to November.

About double thge length of a regular one. I expect emotional responses.

[Joe Fields]

14. This is a phenomenal move by the Ag. secretary.

This could possibly be the beginning of a movement to allow for the production of hemp for an alternative fuel source.

[Jackpine Radical]

24. Not to mention as a fabrid, as a source of pulp for paper...

I heard a story that the Hearst interests had bought up a huge amount of forest land in the Northwest & worked to get pot outlawed to protect the value of the woodlands for paper pulp. Anybody else ever hear that?

[faithnotgreed]

15. still treating it like its a crime but at least its a good step

towards sanity

glad there are still signs of that left

[Odin2005]

16. Go North Dakota!

[lpbk2713]

18. Why do they want to hump the farmers?

Oh ... Never mind.

[Gold Metal Flake]

23. Get thee into the Lounge where such flirtatious allusions are appreciated!

:D

[HeeBGBz]

19. Lets have random plantings everywhere!

Throw your seeds everywhere you go.

[0007]

21. A step toward progress