|
Dear Reader,
Most hemp news over the past couple of
weeks has been out of
California,
but the budget
problems there are threatening a number of
bills. We hope that AB 684, the California
Industrial Hemp Farming Act, is not a
casualty of the impasse. AB 684 has been amended
a number of times and as it stands now the bill
would authorize a pilot program for the
cultivation of industrial hemp in four counties
— Imperial, Kings, Mendocino and Yolo
— and has had a number of
provisions added to overcome
law enforcement objections.
The Vote Hemp-funded lawsuit in North
Dakota has also been quietly bubbling
away on the back burner. There have been a
number of great stories on the case, and we
also now have the
Vote Hemp Bar made by Ruth's
Hemp Foods to help us support the effort.
Won't you please also make a
contribution
to the Vote Hemp Farmer Fund today to help us
continue fixing the situation here in the U.S.?
We need and truly appreciate your support!
Best Regards,
Tom Murphy
Weekly News Update Editor
| Hope for Hemp — A Banned Crop Could See Approval in California |
 |
|
By Elsa Sevilla
KPBS-TV
July 23, 2007
Hemp is a versatile crop: it can be used to
make clothing, paper, food, body care
products, biofuel — even auto parts. It
is considered more environmentally-friendly
than growing plants like cotton. And, it is
the only crop that is illegal to grow —
but legal for Americans to import. Reporter
Elsa Sevilla brings us the story.
In May, the State Assembly passed the
California Industrial Hemp Farming Act. And a
February poll of likely California voters
said they would support changing the state
law to allow farmers to grow hemp. The bill
goes back to the Assembly in September.
|
| Candy Bar to Fuel North Dakota Hemp Lawsuit |
|
|
Compiled By Staff
Dakota
Farmer
July 26, 2007
Ruth's Hemp Foods has introduced a special
edition hemp snack bar to promote support of
Vote Hemp.
Vote Hemp, a Washington, DC-based industrial
hemp advocacy group, is funding the legal
costs of two North Dakota farmers, Dave
Monson and Wayne Hauge, in the farmers'
lawsuit against the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration.
100 percent of all profits from the first
three months' sale of the Vote Hemp Bar will
go directly to Vote Hemp. Thereafter, 20
percent of the bar's profits will be donated
to Vote Hemp for the entire life of the bar.
|
| Yolo County Board of Supervisors Supports Hemp Bill |
|
|
By Lizeth Cazares
The California Aggie
Online
August 6, 2007
The Yolo County Board of Supervisors agreed
unanimously to support Assembly Bill 684 Tuesday.
If passed, AB 684 would allow for the
industrial farming of hemp in four California
counties — Imperial, Kings, Mendocino and
Yolo counties — for the next five years, in
spite of federal law which classifies the
plant as a controlled substance and prohibits
hemp farming.
Yolo County staff recommended the county
support the bill because hemp production
can be beneficial to the county, said Petrea
Marchand, manager of intergovernmental
affairs for Yolo County. "Staff is
recommending support because Yolo County
agriculture may benefit sometime in the
future from an availability of another crop,"
she said.
|
| Hemp My Farm |
|
|
The Colbert Report
July 26, 2007
North Dakota legalizes hemp farming — the
corn won't be as high as an elephant's eye.
Steven gives the news of the North
Dakota lawsuit fairly straight and shows
the New
York Times story in advance of an
interview with MPP's Aaron Houston.
|
|
California Farmers Should Be Allowed to Grow Hemp |
|
|
|
By Sen. Abel Maldonado
Santa Cruz
Sentinel
July 29, 2007
Industrial hemp is a burgeoning international
agriculture industry. It is grown in more
than 30 countries, including Canada, Germany,
England, France, Spain, Australia, Hungary
and Romania. But California, and the United
States in general, is being left behind in a
cloud of misinformation and archaic laws that
prevent our agriculture industry from taking
advantage of this profitable and important crop.
Current state and federal law allows hemp
products to be manufactured in the United
States and sold in stores. Californians can
buy hemp clothing and food products,
California businesses can manufacture and
sell hemp products, but California growers
cannot grow hemp and are prohibited from
participating in the growing agriculture market.
In an effort to unbind the hands of the
California agriculture community, Assembly
members Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, and Chuck
DeVore, R-Irvine, have introduced AB 684,
which will allow for the cultivation of
industrial hemp as part of a five-county
pilot project [Ed. note: the law has since been
amended to four]. Butte, Imperial, Mendocino,
Kings and Yolo counties will participate in
the five-year pilot project. This is
common-sense legislation that needs to be
signed into law.
[More...]
|
|
