Cannabis News Protecting Patients Access to Medical Marijuana
  Hemp-Growing Rules Take Step Forward
Posted by CN Staff on November 16, 2006 at 07:01:17 PT
By Dale Wetzel, Associated Press Writer  
Source: Associated Press 

hemp Bismarck, N.D. -- State rules for growing industrial hemp are close to taking effect, although federal drug agents will have the final say on whether farmers may cultivate it, Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson said.

Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem issued a letter Wednesday saying the proposed rules comply with state law. A legislative committee that reviews North Dakota agency regulations still must go over them before they take effect, Johnson said.

Industrial hemp is a relative of marijuana, but does not have the hallucinogenic chemical that provides a "high" when the leaf is smoked. It is used to produce an assortment of goods, including paper, rope, clothing and cosmetics.

Industrial hemp cultivation is legal in Canada and other countries, but it is banned in the United States, a situation that Johnson and North Dakota lawmakers have been working to reverse. Johnson and other state agriculture officials met with U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration officials last February in Washington, D.C., to discuss the issue.

North Dakota farmers who want to grow industrial hemp must undergo a criminal background check, provide their fingerprints, and let law enforcement officials know the exact location of their fields, the proposed Agriculture Department regulations say.

Farmers must document the amounts of harvested hemp they sell, and to whom, and show that their hemp seeds have less than three-tenths of 1 percent of the hallucinogenic chemical THC.

Even if the state conditions are met, the Drug Enforcement Administration must agree to allow hemp to be grown before any state license is issued, Johnson said.

Hemp has a number of benefits for producers, Johnson said. It grows rapidly, generates a great deal of usable fiber, and does not require much, if any, pesticide, he said.

"I think from an agronomic standpoint, it will be very attractive ... assuming that there's a decent market for it," Johnson said. "The reason it will take a while to develop is because it's been illegal in this country for a long time."

Source: Associated Press (Wire)
Author: Dale Wetzel, Associated Press Writer
Published: Thursday, November 16, 2006
Copyright: 2006 Associated Press

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Comment #15 posted by jasgrave333 on November 16, 2006 at 11:48:04 PT:

[hifff] Whig say hi to widow :)
& ya, I was robbed too, where's my THC hallucinations...???

I mean come on experts, at least be right about something...

lol...

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #14 posted by schmeff on November 16, 2006 at 11:18:22 PT
Help! Police! I've been robbed!
None of the cannabis I've ever consumed (and I've consumed a bit) ever had any of the "hallucinogenic chemical THC."

Apparently, the only people who hallucinate from the effects of THC are those who have never tried it. In other words, "the experts." lol

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #13 posted by whig on November 16, 2006 at 10:30:07 PT
jasgrave333
Widow says hello. I'm going to relocate from this board for a bit, but you can find me where you usually do.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #12 posted by whig on November 16, 2006 at 10:22:41 PT
jasgrave333
How about I join you for some fresh air -- with healing vapor.

Bread is rising in the oven now.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #11 posted by jasgrave333 on November 16, 2006 at 10:12:11 PT:

lol - delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol
...mi need stronger stuff - lol...

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #10 posted by jasgrave333 on November 16, 2006 at 10:08:42 PT:

Ooops; Delta-9-Tetra-Cydro-Cannibol ???
...ya, that's a different plant;

should of course be;

Delta-9-Tetra-Hydro-Cannibinol - duh!... k goin for a breath of fresh smoke...

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #9 posted by jasgrave333 on November 16, 2006 at 10:06:10 PT:

392˚F - coincidence?
Delta-9-Tetra-Cydro-Cannibol - THC

Δ(Greek letter Delta) - 9˚

7 leaves... the numbers add up to 1 heck'uva herb...

Our 3rd rock from the ever lasting free-energy of the sun... grows some of da best [hifff...]

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #8 posted by whig on November 16, 2006 at 09:52:13 PT
jasgrave333
I would point out though that vaporization commences before the actual boiling point.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #7 posted by whig on November 16, 2006 at 09:45:44 PT
jasgrave333
392degF, 200degC. I just looked it up.

http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabis/thc_data_sheet.shtml

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #6 posted by jasgrave333 on November 16, 2006 at 08:00:12 PT:

It's true Whig...
...and that's before we even get to temperatures above 910

Ya, Exactly!

Look the other way people... over there; Terrorists...

Cannabis vaporisation temperatures are very accurate too; THC boils off at? :)

1 love...

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #5 posted by whig on November 16, 2006 at 07:48:31 PT
jasgrave333
In Fahrenheit 451, firemen burned books.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #4 posted by jasgrave333 on November 16, 2006 at 07:41:39 PT:

Books no less!
" The suspect explained the books... "

Poor guy. Scanned with a thermal device, picked up for farming and carrying menthal herbivated incense sticks.

The police need to get a grip on REAL reality...

He had books, with Latin references and big words. Studied articles on how sun-shine makes this plant grow better and taller.

I wish the 'law'-"officials" studied that hard.

When they've finished throwing every book at him, he should resort to that last book and the 10 commandments... where was he breaking Gods law? Or is it a law-less land?

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #3 posted by FoM on November 16, 2006 at 07:37:20 PT
Press Release from The Drug Policy Alliance
San Francisco Supervisors Vote to Deprioritize Adult Marijuana Offenses

http://www.commondreams.org/cgi-bin/newsprint.cgi?file=/news2006/1115-14.htm

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #2 posted by FoM on November 16, 2006 at 07:36:25 PT
San Diego County Challenges Medical Marijuana Law
November 16, 2006

(AP) -- San Diego gets its day in court today in its challenge of California's decade-old law permitting marijuana use for medical purposes.

The county sued the state of California and its director of health services in San Diego Superior Court in February, saying a federal ban on marijuana trumps state rules permitting individuals to use the drug with a physician's approval. The judge will consider that argument this afternoon.

Two other California counties, San Bernardino and Merced, have joined San Diego as plaintiffs in the suit. All three counties have refused to comply with a state requirement that counties issue identification cards for medical marijuana users and maintain a registry of people who apply for the cards.

The state attorney general contends California is entitled to pass its own state drug laws and legislate programs relating to the use of medical marijuana.

Copyright: 2006 The Associated Press

http://cbs2.com/local/local_story_320073731.html

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #1 posted by FoM on November 16, 2006 at 07:30:39 PT
LTVN: Protecting The Privacy of Pot
By James J. Kilpatrick

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Once more into the Fourth Amendment breach, dear friends! In the pending case of Florida v. Rabb, the Supreme Court has a splendid opportunity to affirm the maxim that a man's house is his home -- and that he has a right to grow a passel of pot in his attic.

Well, not exactly. By taking the case -- or better yet, by not taking it -- the high court could strike a blow for strict enforcement of a constitutional freedom as old as Magna Carta. These are the facts:

In April 2002, an anonymous informant advised the Broward County sheriff's office that someone was growing marijuana in a residence on Polk Street in Hollywood. The informant, obviously well-informed, identified the urban agronomist as a white male, 35 years of age. Thus prepared, the cops went to the specified address, taking a sniffing dog with them. The dog's name was Chevy. His age does not appear in the record.

The posse soon observed a white male exiting the domicile and driving away. The detectives followed in hot pursuit. Ten minutes later they stopped the driver for failing to signal as he changed lanes. The culprit identified himself as "John Brown." He was "visually nervous." His hands trembled. The detectives, skilled at recognizing such indicia of guilt, peered into the vehicle.

There they saw two books on cannabis cultivation. This was suspicious. The suspect explained the books by saying, in effect, that botany was his hobby. Suddenly Chevy alerted the cops to the ashtray. A clue! A palpable clue! Cannabis! The suspect broke down. He looked away as the gendarmes extracted two marijuana cigarettes from Brown's left shoe.

The party returned to Polk Street. Fifty-five minutes had elapsed. More evidence was required. Once more into the breach! The officers looked again to Chevy, the helpful hound. Handlers led him to the front door. Tally-ho! An alert! This did it. Now armed with a search warrant, police entered the house. They found 64 cannabis plants under cultivation and three cigarettes in a safe. It soon developed that "John Brown" was in fact James Rabb. His arrest followed swiftly. Trial seemed imminent.

Rabb's counsel moved to suppress the evidence. A trial court granted his motion, and a divided panel of Florida's 4th District Court of Appeal, speaking through Judge Bobby Gunther, affirmed. Now the case is pending in the U.S. Supreme Court on the state's petition for reversal and remand. We will know before long if Rabb goes free or goes on trial.

In her opinion, Judge Gunther relied chiefly on the Supreme Court's opinion five years ago in the case of another residential farmer, Danny Lee Kyllo of Florence, Ore. Using a thermal imaging device, police scanned his house. Telltale images emerged of unusual heat. These led to a search warrant, and behold! A hundred cannabis plants were growing happily inside.

Kyllo protested that the thermal imaging violated his constitutional rights. The lower federal courts turned him down: The imaging was not an "unreasonable search" under the Fourth Amendment. He appealed. In an unusual alignment of justices, the Supreme Court reversed, 5-4. Justice Antonin Scalia spoke for a majority that included Justices Souter, Ginsburg, Breyer and Thomas. In dissent, Justice John Paul Stevens spoke for Justices Kennedy, O'Connor and Chief Justice Rehnquist. It was a lineup never seen before and never to be seen again.

Now, getting back to the pending case in the high court: As a matter of Fourth Amendment law, is James Rabb's house in Florida to be equated with Danny Kyllo's house in Oregon? As the admissibility of evidence is weighed, is a dog's nose like a thermal imager?

Dogs' noses first appeared in Fourth Amendment law in United States v. Raymond Place in 1983, but as Judge Gunther pointed out in Rabb's case, the canine search in Place was a search in Miami's public airport, not in a private home. Rabb had "a legitimate expectation of privacy." If detectives had not summoned Chevy to the door, they likely "would not have detected the odor of marijuana emanating from the house."

"Thus the use of the dog, like the use of a thermal imager, allowed law enforcement to intrude into the constitutionally protected area of Rabb's house. ... The use of such a technique by law enforcement constitutes an illegal search."

Without evidence from the residence, the Florida cops would be left with a pitiful portion of pot for a federal judge to pass on. Give it up, I'd say. Let us concentrate on crime that truly matters.

Syndicated columnist James J. Kilpatrick covers the courts each week for LegalNews.TV. Readers may contact him in care of LegalNews.TV.

Copyright 2006 Universal Press Syndicate

http://legalnews.tv/james_j._kilpatrick/protecting_the_privacy_of_pot_20061116.html

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