cannabisnews.com: Hemp, Hemp, Hooray? No Way, Says DEA 





Hemp, Hemp, Hooray? No Way, Says DEA 
Posted by CN Staff on November 29, 2003 at 21:26:28 PT
By Christopher Kirkpatrick
Source: Herald-Sun
Durham -- Durham's Gale Glenn could rightly be called the hemp lady. No, not that kind of hemp, she says; it's the kind that can be harvested to make clothes, paper and other textile products, the kind that produces the longest and strongest natural fibers in the world. But because it's in the cannabis family, along with marijuana, it's illegal. As a former Kentucky tobacco farmer, Glenn sees industrial hemp as the perfect money-making alternative crop. From her Durham home, she has been lobbying Congress, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the White House for years. 
"It's an illegal crop, even though it's grown in 35 Western countries ... because the DEA is convinced it is a stalking horse for illegal marijuana. We've been working in a concerted effort for about eight years to legalize it as an alternative crop," said Glenn, who is vice chairwoman of the North American Industrial Hemp Council. "I feel like I'm watching a goose dancing around on hot coals looking for a place to lay the golden egg," she said. "I really think there's going to be some hemp millionaires in the future." The issue has acquired renewed vigor because several state legislatures have passed resolutions to push for the crop's legalization. Recently, a bipartisan group of state lawmakers from Hawaii sent President George W. Bush a letter urging that a legal distinction be made between a crop grown as an illegal drug and an industrial crop grown for textile manufacturing. 'A kind crop for farmers' With the decline in tobacco production, empty warehouses and the continuous search for alternative crops, hemp makes sense, Glenn and others say. She points out that the Kenan Institute for Engineering, Technology and Science at N.C. State University sponsored the International Hemp Forum in November 2001, and several NCSU professors recently sent a grant proposal to the Golden LEAF Foundation, which spends tobacco settlement economic development money. The proposal was rejected. Hemp is "biodegradable; it's a very kind crop for farmers. As a matter of fact, it's a farmer's dream crop -- you just drill in the seed and some fertilizer. It can grow any place you can grow corn, so it's a universal type of crop," she said. "It's an ideal rotation crop. You just need a little bit of fertilizer, no chemicals, and very low labor. Four months later, you can go back into the field and cut it and bale it. It's very useful for manufacturing. "It seems to me that because it's so useful in so many industries to make so many products ... it'd be ideal for North Carolina, because we have all of these empty warehouses," she said. Hemp as an industrial product has its high-profile supporters, including longtime consumer advocate and former presidential candidate Ralph Nader, who said the crop had seen a resurgence around the world. "In recent years, industrial hemp has experienced a renaissance. Farmers throughout the world are growing hemp in countries, such as France, that have never banned its cultivation, and in countries, such as Canada, that strictly regulate hemp production to guard against even the most remote possibility of illicit marijuana production," Nader wrote. "The United States, on the other hand, lags far behind. Due to bureaucratic red tape and overzealousness on the part of the Drug Enforcement Agency, industrial hemp cannot be commercially grown in the United States." The DEA also is waging a battle against any form of imported hemp in the marketplace, including seeds, oil and other food products. In 2001, the agency ordered a ban on hemp-derived foods, saying they ran afoul of the federal Controlled Substances Act. A lower-level federal court stayed the directive, and the battle continues in higher-level courts. Supporters, such as Glenn, say food products and other uses should be exempt from federal substance control laws, just as poppy seeds found on bagels are exempt. Poppy plants are the basis for heroin production. DEA spokesman Ed Childress said that because the fight over hemp's food uses is still in the courts, he could not comment. But he said the DEA's position is that because hemp is illegal, it cannot be grown in the United States. "There's really no differentiation between hemp and marijuana. It is a controlled substance at this time, and until such time as the law changes, it will be enforced," he said. "The FDA, Health and Human Services and the DEA do studies and they get back together and they decide on a policy. It's all based on science. It's not based on opinions or politics, unless you're talking about the other side. "The DEA is so demonized, and all we're doing is enforcing the law," he said. Source: Herald-Sun, The (Durham, NC)Author: Christopher KirkpatrickPublished: November 29, 2003Copyright: 2003 The Herald-SunContact: letters herald-sun.comWebsite: http://www.herald-sun.com/CannabisNews Hemp Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/hemp.shtml
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Comment #9 posted by jose melendez on November 30, 2003 at 06:58:33 PT
Ask why FTC ignores prohibition industry fraud.
" if they would tell the truth and point out the absurbity of these laws, then I could feel some sympathy."Instead, they are omitting relevant material facts that would tend to exonerate US!
Treason: Prohibitionists aid and comfort enemy
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Comment #8 posted by jose melendez on November 30, 2003 at 06:54:32 PT
A Holiday Gift to be Remembered!
Newsflash!The very popular site:http://adrugwarcarol.comhas spawned a printed version, for about $6, and under $3 in quantity. Mail them early, and often!http://adwc-books.com/adwc-books.htm
wage drug peace
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Comment #7 posted by JSM on November 30, 2003 at 05:52:23 PT
Poor Poor DEA
Doesn't it just break your heart to hear the DEA lament: "All we are doing is enforcing the law."Yes, they are just enforcing the law, but if they would tell the truth and point out the absurbity of these laws, then I could feel some sympathy. Right now, they are just a bunch of lying thugs who could not care less about what is right or wrong and use these laws for their own benefit.
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Comment #6 posted by jose melendez on November 30, 2003 at 04:13:49 PT
attention law enforcement!
"There's really no differentiation between hemp and marijuana. "Fine. Here's some marijuana for sale, at less than $50.00:Marijuana for sale: $50http://www.hippieshop.com/cgi-bin/gold/category.cgi?item=GR8090&type=store
Addicted to prohibition? Click here, Occifer! 
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Comment #5 posted by jose melendez on November 30, 2003 at 04:07:45 PT
redemption song
from:http://members.fortunecity.es/sololetras/canciones/letra_can/canc_646.htmOld pirates yes they rob I Sold I to the merchant ships Minutes after they took I From the bottomless pit But my hand was made strong By the hand of the almighty We forward in this generation Triumphantly All I ever had, is songs of freedom Won't you help to sing, these songs of freedom Cause all I ever had, redemption songs Redemption songs Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery None but ourselves can free our minds Have no fear for atomic energy Cause none of them can stop the time How long shall they kill our prophets While we stand aside and look Some say it's just a part of it We've got to fullfill the book Won't you help to sing, these songs of freedom Cause all I ever had, redemption songs Redemption songs, redemption songs Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery None but oursekves can free our minds Have no fear for atomic energy Cause none of them can stop the time How long shall they kill our prophets While we stand aside and look Yes some say it's just a part of it We've got to fullfill the book Won't you help to sing, these songs of freedom Cause all I ever had, redemption songs All I ever had, redemption songs These songs of freedom, songs of freedom. - Bob MarleySeizure RECOVEREDhttp://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n1846/a07.html?397Strict Criteriahttp://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n1846/a08.html?397
Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery . . .
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Comment #4 posted by mayan on November 30, 2003 at 03:05:19 PT
BULLSH*T
"It's all based on science. It's not based on opinions or politics, unless you're talking about the other side."BWAAAHAHAHAAA!!! "The DEA is so demonized, and all we're doing is enforcing the law," he said.That's absolute bullsh*t! The DEA is actively trying to MAKE the law. The law has allowed hemp products on the market for years but the DEA is trying to ban all hemp imports, regardless of if they have minute traces of THC or not. The fact that they aren't trying to ban poppy seed bagels is indicative of their true motives. If poppy seeds had the infinite uses that hemp has, they would be trying to ban them also. These a**holes make me want to vomit!SHADOW OF THE SWASTIKA - The Real Reason the Government Won't Debate Medical Cannabis and Industrial Hemp Re-legalization:
http://www.sumeria.net/politics/shadv3.htmlThe way out is the way in...9/11 WIDOW CHARGES BUSH WITH FOREKNOWLEDGE AND ABETMENT OF MURDER IN RICO SUIT!!!
http://www.911citizenswatch.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=33&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0Mariani Vs Bush(Full Amended Complaint)
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0311/S00224.htm9/11 - Unanswered Questions:
http://scoop.co.nz/mason/features/?s=UnansweredQuestions9/11 Prior Knowledge/Government Involvement Archive:
http://www.propagandamatrix.com/archiveprior_knowledge
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Comment #3 posted by lilgrasshoppah77 on November 30, 2003 at 02:41:10 PT:
My thoughts exactly, Reverend!
The DEA never tells the truth, except by accident!On a related subject, one of the earmarks of fascism is the mindless adherence to bureaucracy: "I was only doing my job, mien herr!"
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Comment #2 posted by BGreen on November 29, 2003 at 22:06:45 PT
SCIENCE?
Oops, chopped it off.The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #1 posted by BGreen on November 29, 2003 at 22:05:03 PT
The "Other Side" are Liars but the DEA is SCI
DEA spokesman Ed Childress said that because the fight over hemp's food uses is still in the courts, he could not comment. But he said the DEA's position is that because hemp is illegal, it cannot be grown in the United States."There's really no differentiation between hemp and marijuana. It is a controlled substance at this time, and until such time as the law changes, it will be enforced," he said. "The FDA, Health and Human Services and the DEA do studies and they get back together and they decide on a policy. It's all based on science. It's not based on opinions or politics, unless you're talking about the other side."The DEA is so demonized, and all we're doing is enforcing the law," he said.The "other side" are those 35 western countries that have seen the wondrous potential of cannabis sativa.Do these 35 western countries base all of their economic decisions based on "opinion or politics?"The "DEA is so demonized" because any disciple of the devil is a demon.The Reverend Bud Green
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