An alliance of farmers, businesses, consumer advocates and environmentalists is petitioning the federal government to allow them to grow industrial hemp.

The alliance announced today that it is backing two petitions _ one with the Drug Enforcement Administration and the other with the Agriculture Department _- that call for changes in the law to allow the cultivation and production of industrial hemp. The petitions propose that DEA and USDA develop a licensing system to regulate the cultivation of industrial hemp by U.S. farmers. The United States is the only industrialized country that classifies hemp as an illegal drug.

The Resource Conservation Alliance, a non-profit environmental project affiliated with Ralph Nader, and the North American Industrial Hemp Council are organizing farmers and companies to support the petitions.

Nader said in a statement, ``Industrial hemp is as American as apple pie. The Declaration of Independence was drafted on hemp paper, and both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew it.''

Nader added, ``It simply makes no sense to outlaw a plant that has played such a vital role in the history of our country. Moreover, growing hemp will be a boon for our farmers; it's an easy-to-grow cash crop that is good for field rotations that can help sustain the soil and reduce harmful insects.''

Nader has long allied himself with the tort bar and has used lawsuits effectively in the past to advance his causes. Undoubtedly, the DEA will require a Supreme Court ruling before changing its position. This could take several years.

If it were to lose the legal battle, it could then take at least a year, perhaps two growing seasons, before issuing regulations for growing hemp. It could make the regulations so onerous that more litigation would be required, which could take even more time.

If this seems farfetched, remember that NORML filed it first medical marijuana lawsuit in 1972. The DEA resisted in every way possible an when their own Administrative Law Judge ruled against them, they simply trashed his report and dragged the case out in the courts until they finally won at the appeals level in 1995 and the plaintiffs simply gave up on the courts.

However, when Nader's involvement in the story is reported, even the DEA was not prepared to call this alliance a front for NORML and claim that its petitions were a subterfuge for the "legalization of drugs." In stead of attacking the motives of the petitioners, it had to fall back on another line of resistance.

``The primary concern about the legalization of the cultivation of industrial hemp is the message it would send to the public at large,'' according to a statement by the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

``The second major concern is that legalizing hemp production may mean the de facto legalization of marijuana. Industrial hemp and marijuana are a product of the same plant, Cannabis Sativa.''