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Dear Reader,
Some weeks there is so much hemp news it's
hard to figure out where to put it all in the
newsletter. The past two weeks have been
especially great for high quality news on
hemp — and that's a good thing, since it helps
us get past the Governor's veto in
California.
 One of the most
amazing stories I've seen in a
newspaper appeared in the Sunday magazine of
The Oregonian on October 14. Steve
Woodward, the author, did an excellent job of
profiling a wide range of hemp companies
doing business in Oregon, including: Living
Harvest Conscious Nutrition, Tinctoria
Designs, The
Merry Hempsters, Wilderness
Poets, Mama's
Herbal Soaps, Urb Age
Designs and The Master Peace.
Registration is required to view the
story, "Hemp:
The Little Weed that Could," unless you
live outside of the U.S., but it is well
worth the time to do so in order to read it. We have
not been able to pass a hemp bill in
Oregon
yet, but things are looking better all the
time, especially with stories like this that
reach over
400,000
readers!
Late last week CNN posted their story "Farmers
Sue DEA for Right to Grow Industrial
Hemp" on the Vote Hemp-funded lawsuit
in North Dakota. Author Eliott C. McLaughlin did a
fantastic job,
as did the graphics and Web design crew at
CNN. We never would have had this story if it
were not for the skills and persistence of Adam
Eidinger,
Vote Hemp Director of Communications, and
the rest of the Vote Hemp media team. It is a
great story, and we wholeheartedly
recommend that you scroll down to the bottom
of any of the pages at the CNN site and click on the
"E-mail to a friend" link.
Also last week, The Bismarck Tribune
published the story "Veto
Seals ND as a Pioneer for Hemp." This is
a timely reminder that North
Dakota is now clearly the leader in advancing
hemp farming in the United States.
We will be able to win this case, especially with
your help. Please make a contribution
to Vote Hemp 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
| Veto Seals ND as a Pioneer for Hemp |
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By Jonathan Rivoli
The Bismarck
Tribune
October 18, 2007
In the hemp-growing world, hip,
countercultural California is eating North
Dakota's dust.
For the second year in a row, California Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger has vetoed a bill that
would have created state guidelines for
farmers wishing to grow hemp. North Dakota
passed a similar hemp guidelines law during
the 2007 session with bi-partisan support from
lawmakers, Republican Gov. John Hoeven and
Democratic Agriculture Commissioner Roger
Johnson.
The law outlines a state permitting process
for hemp, which is extensively regulated by
the federal government because of its
relation to marijuana. Hemp, a coarse fibrous
plant with much lower THC levels than its
intoxicating cousin, is used to make
everything from soap to clothes.
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| DeVore Still Fights for Hemp |
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By Alicia Robinson
Daily
Pilot
October 17, 2007
The first two tries didn't do it for Newport
Beach Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, whose
industrial hemp bill has now been vetoed
twice by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, but
DeVore said Wednesday he isn't giving up the
fight.
The bill, co-written by DeVore and San
Francisco Democratic Assemblyman Mark Leno,
would allow California farmers to grow
industrial hemp, which is non-hallucinogenic
and can be used to make cloth, soap, paper
and building materials. Opponents charge the
crop causes problems for law enforcement
because it's easily confused with its illegal
cousin, marijuana.
"I think that we're going to try again," he
said, adding officials can look to North
Dakota, where a similar law was passed.
"There's going to be some practical lessons
learned from North Dakota that show this is
not the boogeyman to law enforcement that
some people try to make it out to be."
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| Schwarzenegger Again Vetoes Industrial Hemp Bill |
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By Sarah Terry-Cobo
The Oakland
Tribune
October 15, 2007
SACRAMENTO, CA — On Thursday Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger vetoed the Industrial Hemp
Farming Act again, even though the bill's
authors said they had redrafted the
legislation from last year's version to
address the Governor's concerns.
The bill authorizes farmers in four counties
to grow plots of non-psychoactive hemp as a
pilot project, but has no effect on federal
legislation.
In a statement on his Web site,
Schwarzenegger said, "I would like to support
the expansion of a new agricultural commodity
in this state."
"Unfortunately, I am very concerned that this
bill would give legitimate growers a false
sense of security and a belief that
production of 'industrial hemp' is somehow a
legal activity under federal law."
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Farmers Sue DEA for Right to Grow Industrial Hemp |
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By Eliott C.
McLaughlin
CNN
October 18, 2007
The feds call industrial hemp a controlled
substance — the same as pot, heroin,
LSD — but advocates say a sober
analysis reveals a harmless, renewable cash
crop with thousands of applications that are
good for the environment.
Two North Dakota farmers are taking that
argument to federal court, where a November
14 hearing is scheduled in a lawsuit to
determine if the Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA) is stifling the farmers'
efforts to grow industrial hemp. The DEA says
it's merely enforcing the law.
Marijuana and industrial hemp are members of
the Cannabis sativa L. species and have
similar characteristics. One major
difference: Hemp won't get you high. Hemp
contains only traces of delta-9
tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the compound
that gets pot smokers stoned. However, the
Controlled Substances Act (CSA) makes little
distinction, banning the species almost outright.
[More...]
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