California Democratic
Assemblywoman Proposing Resolution To Legalize Hemp.
Says DEA Will Issue Permits, But Will They?
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 13, 1999
Contact: Stacey Sullivan
(916) 3193798
STROM-MARTIN PROPOSES RESOLUTION ON INDUSTRIAL HEMP
SACRAMENTO - Assemblywoman Virginia Strom-Martin (D-Duncan Mills) will propose that the
Legislature adopt a resolution calling on the state to consider changing the legal status
of industrial hemp to allow for its cultivation as an agricultural and industrial crop.
"Industrial hemp is not marijuana, but rather a non-intoxicating plant that has
been cultivated and used in a multitude of ways around the world for millenia," said
Strom-Martin. "Prohibiting California farmers from growing this potentially highly
profitable crop makes about as much botanical sense as prohibiting gardeners from growing
poppies because one variety is the source of opium."
Studies have found that industrial hemp can be used to produce paper, building
materials, textile fiber, oil and paint, diesel fuel, plastics, and food protein as good
or better than that from current sources of these products. Industrial hemp also can be
grown in otherwise marginal cropland, requires less water and little or no herbicide or
pesticide application, and matures in three to four months, thereby allowing several
harvests per year. Industrial hemp was an important crop in the United States from the
establishment of the Jamestown Colony through World War II, when it was used to produce
maritime rope in the "Hemp for Victory" campaign.
A wide range of products, from clothing and cosmetics to beer and
cheese, that are made wholly or partially from industrial hemp are currently available in
California. While these products may be manufactured in California, the raw material must
be imported.
Industrial hemp cultivation was recently made legal in North Dakota, and both Hawaii
and Minnesota have approved the growing of test crops. 16 other states are considering
industrial hemp legislation. The federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) permits the
cultivation of industrial hemp under strict rules and regulations.
(Marijuananews note: Oh really? The DEA has claimed that it
is going to set guidelines, but they continue to stall and lie. Either Strom-Martin is in
for a rude awakening or the DEA will have to follow through.)
See
"If an
applicant establishes adequate security controls and satisfies the other requirements for
registration,
DEA will issue a registration to cultivate 0.3 percent THC hemp for industrial uses."
-- DEA Letter
Internationally, thirty nations areengaged in the
production of industrial hemp, including Canada, Great Britain, France, Germany, Australia
and China. None of these nations are classified as drug-producing countries by the DEA.
According to studies cited by the resolution's proponents, the variety of Cannabis
sativa cultivated as industrial hemp contains less than 1% of the psychoactive chemical
tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which occurs in concentrations of 5% to
20% in marijuana. Industrial hemp can also be distinguished from marijuana by
appearance and cultivation methods.
(Marijuananews note: These exaggerated THC numbers have become a
part of the pro-hemp line. Marijuana has an average of around 3 percent THC. Ironically,
the anti-hemp prohibitionists cannot refute them without refuting their own reefer
madness.)
"Industrial hemp could be of immense benefit to both the economy and the
environment of the North Coast and rural California in general," Strom-Martin said.
I'm proud to be the one taking the initiative in the Legislature to finally get the state
to deal rationally rather than hysterically with a crop whose promise is great and whose
time has come."
Supported