Hemp: North Dakota farmers fight for right to grow

[KBCraig]

DEA refuses to respond, so farmers move for summary judgement.

http://www.farmandranchguide.com/articles/2007/11/09/ag_news/regional_news/news02.txt

North Dakota producers still awaiting court decision on industrial hemp

By SUE ROESLER, Farm & Ranch Guide
Friday, November 9, 2007 9:25 AM CST

Producers Wayne Hauge of Ray and Dave Monson of Osnabrock haven't given up attempts to grow the profitable crop industrial hemp on their northern North Dakota farms.

The state of North Dakota has issued them licenses and fully supports their efforts. NDSU, the state land grant university, also recently filed a brief to the court, supporting the producers.

But the federal government, specifically the Drug Enforcement Administration, has been another story.

The DEA has historically not acted on hemp applications. It doesn't say yes or no. It just doesn't respond - and in the case of Hauge and Monson, who also serves in the North Dakota Legislature as a Representative from his district, DEA claims it is still reviewing their applications.

Given the agency's history that could take many years.

On Sept. 19, the two producers filed a motion for summary judgement regarding the lawsuit they filed in June, and the DEA then filed a motion asking that that motion be dismissed. Other court actions have also been going on back and forth since June 18.
 

Now, in the historic case, the two producers will be able to face the DEA in court. Oral arguments will be heard Nov. 14 at 10 a.m. in the William L. Guy Federal Building in Bismarck, N.D.

VoteHemp's Adam Eidinger said the motion for summary judgement basically tells the court that Monson and Hauge have "made their case and are ready for the judge's decision."

The original June 18 lawsuit seeks to end the DEA's obstruction of commercial hemp farming in the U.S. If successful, licensed hemp farmers could be assured the DEA will not charge them with a crime under the Controlled Substances Act when they plant their crop.
 

NDSU has taken the unusual step of filing a brief to the court supporting their motion to dismiss, says one of the farmers' lawyers, Tim Purdon of Bismarck.

Purdon said in the case of NDSU, the N.D. Legislature authorized the state land university in 1999 to collect feral hemp seed stock and develop varieties of industrial hemp that could be grown in this northern state.

NDSU applied to the DEA for permission to begin operations, but for eight years, the DEA has never acted on that application.

NDSU's brief suggests that if the DEA has not responded to its own application eight years ago, the agency is unlikely to ever respond to the farmers' applications.

"The brief adds strength to our case and directly supports it," says Purdon. "This is a first-in-the-nation type case. It's the first time a state says that they no longer need a DEA license - that a state license should be enough."

Purdon says he believes the case is a strong one, but it is now up to Judge Dan Hovland to decide.

NDSU Vice President for Agriculture and University Extension, D.C. Coston, said the main reason they filed a brief was to support the state agriculture producers in a good "economically viable enterprise."

"We're also trying to live up to the mandates of the Legislature and we haven't been able to do that," he said. "We felt relating our experience (with the DEA) would help the producers' position."

Coston said there were many hemp products imported into the U.S. from around the world, and there was no reason North Dakota producers shouldn't be able to grow and process industrial hemp here.

"In Canada, there are some 35-40,000 acres of industrial hemp north of Cavalier County, so we know North Dakota is probably a good place to grow it," Coston said.

He said the university is fully equipped to begin a seed program on site. With NDSU's capabilities, Coston expects by the second year of a breeding program, the department could make recommendations.

Hauge says he absolutely plans to be at the court hearing next week.

"I'm looking forward to it," said Hauge in a phone interview. "It's quite challenging with the DEA's position. In the last news release, they were saying it didn't matter what the THC level was (it would still be illegal.) The DEA's position is very weak and that will be brought out."

Hemp belongs to the same plant species as marijuana but it is a completely different variety and the levels of THC (a chemical that has psychoactive properties) are miniscule.

"Why would anyone want to go through tons and tons of hemp to get enough THC together?" Hauge said. "That doesn't make any sense."

He believes DEA should be concentrating on the massive illegal drug use in the country, and leaving farmers who want to make a profit with a viable crop alone.

"Hopefully, the court system will take care of it," he said. "Industrial hemp is another commodity to us. Saying it is under the Controlled Substances Act is a crock - it's no different than flax or other oilseeds."

Purdon says the DEA has no jurisdiction over hemp and that, as a business, it is covered by the Commerce Department.

In addition, he said the intent of Congress was to separate hemp from marijuana and to keep hemp stalk, fiber, seed and oil exempt for use in interstate commerce.

Meanwhile, Hauge and Monson are waiting to grow industrial hemp just like their Canadian neighbors do.

This year, Hauge said his regular crops did fairly well, but heat took its toll.

His barley made malting at 18 percent protein and was "pretty high quality." However, he wishes he would have put more fertilizer down to have had better yields.

The lentils and chickpeas did not do real well this year, but since prices were "abnormally high" for lentils, it all balanced out. Canada planted a lot more chickpeas than lentils, so lentils were in demand.

"I'm still waiting for the grain cleaner to get back to me so I can get my seed ready for next year," he added.

To Hauge, farming is a business.

"I love to do it, but it's a business and it has to provide a sustainable income," he said. "If I can't run it in a profitable fashion, it's not worth it."

Hauge said he has three sons, none who currently plan to work on the farm. One is a computer programmer, one an accountant and one in school for chemical engineering.

"If I had a crop like industrial hemp and it would ever take off economically, I might have a farming business big enough where it would require a computer programmer, lots of number crunching and a chemical engineer," he said. "Then my sons could be here. I always encouraged them to get their scholastic education and if you are going to dream, dream big."

Hauge said he was also looking forward to meeting some of the other members of the legal team, including a Washington, D.C. attorney, several people from VoteHemp and from the National Hemp Alliance. VoteHemp is funding the lawsuit.

Hauge said he has only heard from the DEA one time when an agent called him to discuss security protocols.

"Since the DEA has never acted on NDSU's situation, that should be proof enough they won't act on our applications," he said.

Special agent Steve Robertsen from the DEA said he could not comment on the lawsuit since it was in litigation. He did say that federal law declares hemp is illegal to grow.

"THC is illegal and that's in hemp," he said.

Rogene Waite, Public Affairs at the DEA, said one of the problems is that there is no definition of what hemp is, so there's nothing for the agency to follow.

"There's absolutely no definition of hemp in the law," she said, explaining why the DEA considers hemp in the same category as marijuana.

As to why the DEA has not responded to Monson and Hauge's application, she said that kind of information was too "detailed" for her office.

Handling applications falls under the category of how the agency operates, and explaining that would be giving too much information away to the drug dealers, she added.

"I'm not saying these farmers are bad, they're not. But we have to have a policy that covers everyone," Waite said.