Hemp On Rye

[Guest guest]

http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/20154/

 

Hemp On Rye

By Lisa Sorg, San Antonio Current

 

Posted on October 12, 2004,

http://www.alternet.org/story/20154/

 

In the Dauphin region of Manitoba, the days are growing shorter and

colder, and snow will soon be on the ground, where it will linger

until March. Across the horizon, prairies teem with combines plodding

through the fields for the annual hemp harvest.

 

Since early June, when Canadian farmers could be relatively certain

that the last frost had passed, hemp plants have grown from seedlings

poking through the province's black soil to statuesque stalks, with

serrated leaves that give way to ripe flowers full of seeds.

 

Farmers export the seeds and plant fibers to the United States, where

manufacturers use it to make goods such as flour, bread, cheese,

butter, birdseed, clothing and personal care products. High in protein

and omega-3 fatty acids, hemp foodstuffs appeal to those looking for

an alternative to fish, which can contain mercury. The Hemp Industry

Association estimates annual sales of U.S. hemp food products is $40

million.

 

Despite hemp's nutritional benefits, you will not find lush fields of

the plant in the U.S. because, since 1958, it has been illegal to grow

the " industrial " variety here. Hemp is related to marijuana, but is

non-psychoactive and its flowers contain only trace amounts of THC.

 

Although you'd puke before eating enough hemp bread to get stoned, had

a proposed rule by the Drug Enforcement Administration become law, you

could have been charged with possession of a Schedule I controlled

substance for keeping a loaf in the fridge.

 

In a 2003 rule change, the DEA tried to criminalize the importation of

hemp foods for human consumption (but not birdseed and animal food),

claiming they contained THC and thus fell under the provisions of the

Controlled Substances Act, which Congress passed in the heady days of

1970.

 

The Hemp Industry Association, a lobbying group, immediately sued the

DEA and also filed a challenge under the North American Free Trade

Agreement, of which Canada is a partner. While this move triggered

mandatory meetings with the State Department, David Bronner, chairman

of the HIA's Food and Oil Committee says, " Under NAFTA rules, you

can't change policy. The only avenue was a domestic court. "

 

Enter the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which unanimously ruled that

the DEA could not ban nutritious hemp foods and that the Controlled

Substances Act specifically exempted " industrial " hemp products, much

like it exempted poppy seeds from the list of prohibited opiates. The

Bush administration failed to appeal the decision by the Sept. 27

deadline, and the court's ruling held.

 

To celebrate the Ninth Circuit's decision, we broke out the hemp bread

and opted for peanut butter and banana as a topping, since hemp cheese

should be consumed only with the same caveats as soy cheese; in other

words, bleck. Earthy, crunchy and dense, the dark bread (which also

contains spelt, kamut and other exotic grains) serves as a good

gateway to other hemp foods: the raw seeds taste like their sunflower

counterparts and can be roasted; the flour can be used in waffles and

nut breads.

 

Ironically, the Puritans first brought hemp to America in 1645, and

the crop flourished in the South and Midwest until the development of

the cotton gin and popularity of jute and abaca displaced it. In World

War II, imports of abaca and jute were unavailable and hemp briefly

came back in vogue. Unlike cotton, hemp requires few pesticides or

herbicides, and is often grown organically. Its leaves resemble that

of the pot plant, which can confuse law enforcement agents surveilling

fields from helicopters.

 

" People think you can grow pot in a hemp field, " says Bronner. " Hemp

grows densely and tall and looks very different from marijuana, which

is low and busy. No one would grow a drug crop in a non-drug crop. It

would cross-pollinate and ruin its potency. "

 

Bronner sees the court's ruling as a step towards eventual

legalization of hemp farming in the U.S. Fourteen states have passed

legislation to research hemp agriculture, albeit under extremely

controlled circumstances and with federal permits. In 1999, Hawaii

received $200,000 from a hair care company to plant test plots of

hemp, although the federal government required the fields to be

enclosed in 12-foot-high fence with infrared surveillance.

 

On the federal level, votehemp.com rated presidential candidates on

their stances on U.S. hemp cultivation: Bush received an F for the

DEA's proposed rule; Kerry received a failing grade because he did not

follow up on a promise to complete the hemp survey. Independent Ralph

Nader, Green David Cobb and Libertarian Michael Badnarik received

A-pluses for supporting the legalization of industrial hemp.

 

Vice presidential candidate John Edwards, who hails from a major

tobacco-producing state, North Carolina, received a B-minus for

agreeing to allow research without federal permits but remaining

undecided on whether to allow farmers to grow it.

 

Bronner says some members of Congress are sympathetic to the hemp

cause, although none will go on the record in favor of hemp during an

election year. The HIA is also working with Midwestern farmers to

rally support. Still, hemp's opponents contend legalizing hemp farming

would, as Bronner describes, " send the wrong message to children. "

 

" Generally you have opposition from the cultural warriors, the

religious, zealot right. You can't have the message come out that

there are some pretty amazing applications for hemp. "

© 2004 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.

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