Despite California Gov. Terminator's decision to veto a bipartisan measure reauthorizing the cultivation of industrial hemp by the state's farmers, the broader movement to restore industrial cannabis farming to the American agricultural economy continues to barrel forward. Indeed, North Carolina legislators have passed a bill appropriating $30K to fund a statewide commission charged with studying the "economic opportunities industrial hemp provides to the state and to consider the desirability and feasibility of authorizing industrial hemp cultivation and production as a farm product in North Carolina," according to the Beneficial Uses of Industrial Hemp Act, which became law July 1. The commission -- made up of state agricultural and commerce officials and academics from several universities -- is expected to present its findings (including any legislative proposals) to the State Assembly by Dec. 1.

By Blake Nicholson, Associated Press
Contra Costa Times
October 14, 2006

WISHEK, N.D. - Roger Johnson finds similarities between cutting hay in the middle of the night and standing for hours in a crowded auditorium shaking hundreds of hands amid the sound of accordions and the pungent smell of sauerkraut.

"There are seasons in this, just like there are seasons in farming," the Democratic agriculture commissioner said as he campaigned at Wishek's annual Sauerkraut Day.

"One thing I got used to early on is when there was work to do, the days were pretty long," he said.

By Amy Kingsley, YES! Weekly. (October 25, 2006

About a year ago, Republican state Senator Stan Bingham went looking for new potential energy sources for his soybean oil-fueled car. After some research, he concluded that hempseed oil might generate the type of gas he was looking for.

"Hemp is great for alternative fuel," Bingham said.

As it turns out, fuel isn't the only use for industrial hemp, although it is the one favored by actor Woody Harrelson, who drove a hemp-fueled car up the West Coast. Hemp seeds and stalk can be used in the production of a number of goods including clothes, paper, carpet, food, soaps, lotions and medicine. Adam Eidinger, the spokesman for Vote Hemp in Bedford, Mass., pegged the current market for hemp products at $275 million annually and growing.

Tobacco farmers looking for a new crop might benefit from planting hemp, Bingham said, because it thrives in Southern climes, particularly in places where corn also grows.

By David Morris
AlterNet
October 26, 2006

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience", Martin Luther King said, "but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." By this measure, Arnold Schwarzenegger fails the test. He flexes his impressive muscles for show. But when strength and courage truly are required, he cuts and runs. In his own inimitable words, he is a girly-man.

Back in June the governor stood up to the federal government for 17 days, refusing to send the California National Guard to the border in a dispute with the President over immigration policy. He finally agreed, but insisted, "I'm the commander-in-chief -- so I can take back the National Guard at any time that I want."

In this case, where little was at stake except perhaps for the liberal votes he was seeking as his gubernatorial re-election campaign began in earnest, Schwarzenegger stood tall. California law trumps federal actions.