NORTH DAKOTA: HEMP HAVEN?Last April, Governor Ed Schafer Edward Thomas "Ed" Schafer (born August 8, 1946), is a North Dakota Republican Party politician who served as the Governor of North Dakota from 1992 to 2000. A very popular Governor, Schafer was elected by a wide margin in 1996. signed House Bill 1428, making North Dakota North Dakota, state in the N central United States. It is bordered by Minnesota, across the Red River of the North (E), South Dakota (S), Montana (W), and the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba (N). the first state in the nation to legalize le·gal·ize tr.v. le·gal·ized, le·gal·iz·ing, le·gal·iz·es To make legal or lawful; authorize or sanction by law. le the production of industrial hemp hemp, common name for a tall annual herb (Cannabis sativa) of the family Cannabinaceae, native to Asia but now widespread because of its formerly large-scale cultivation for the bast fiber (also called hemp) and for the drugs it yields. , which can be used to make clothing, paper, food products and even beer. Yet despite the best intentions of the state legislature, legal production of hemp is still a long way off. While hemp has many beneficial uses (see "Rethinking Hemp," Consumer News, July/August 1996), federal law still prohibits its cultivation because of the familial connection to marijuana. "That's the hitch," says North Dakota's Agriculture Policy Director Clare Carlson. "As long as it's against federal law, the legislation cannot take effect." According to John Leppert of the North Dakota Department of Agriculture The North Dakota Department of Agriculture is a part of the government of the U.S. state of North Dakota. The department fosters a healthy economic, environmental, and social climate for agriculture and the rural community through leadership, advocacy, education, regulation and , "In Canada, one acre of hemp is worth $275, while an acre of U.S. wheat is worth less than $3." David Monson, the House sponsor of the bill, says, "This legislation was basically designed to encourage the feds to back off and let us produce hemp like our friends in Canada." Fourteen other states are considering symbolic actions. CONTACT: Governor's Office, 600 East Boulevard Avenue, Department 101, Bismarck, ND 58505/(701)328-2200. |
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