North Dakota to be First State to Issue Licenses to Hemp Farmers

[Gold Metal Flake]

Taken from email message from http://www.VoteHemp.com



Public Hearing on Proposed Rules Set for June 15
Bismarck, ND - May 03, 2006 - In a trail blazing move, North Dakota's Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson formally proposed rules yesterday to license farmers in his state to grow industrial hemp under existing state law. With the backdrop of farmers across Canada planting over 50,000 acres of industrial hemp in 2006 to meet expanding demand for the nutritious and versatile plant in the United Sates, the rulemaking process announced yesterday is an important step towards bringing back U.S. commercial hemp farming that was stopped nearly 50 years ago.

Commissioner Johnson will hold a public hearing on June 15 in Bismarck on the proposed rules prior to publishing final rules later this year. "These rules will implement state legislation, covering the cultivation of industrial hemp in North Dakota," Johnson said. "It is an important step in the process of enabling farmers to grow and sell this valuable crop." The proposed hemp farming rules may be viewed online by clicking here.

In February, Commissioner Johnson, along with Agriculture commissioners from three other states, met with Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officials in Washington, DC to explore acceptable rules on industrial hemp farming. The official meeting marked a turning point in the federal government's relations with hemp-friendly policymakers who have been routinely ignored by DEA officials. This is seemingly an about face for an agency that has threatened to prosecute anyone who tries to grow nonpsychoactive hemp in America.

Some highlights of the proposed hemp farming rules include:

-- Farmers must consent to a criminal background check including fingerprints

--Planted hemp must contain less than three-tenths of one percent tetrahydrocannabinol

-- Who the farmer sells to and how much is sold must be documented within 30 days of sale

-- The location of the hemp field must be provided using geopositioning (GPS) coordinates