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North Dakota to be First State to Issue Licenses to Hemp Farmers
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
(http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=4zfwevbab.0.dzj5evbab.77w8grbab.5302&p=http%3A%2F%2Fhttp://www.agdepartment.com%2FPDFFiles%2FProposedIndustrialHempRules5-2006.pdf).

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.

While North Dakota's rules would require farmers to
secure a permit from DEA before their licenses would
become effective, there is precedent for this as the
DEA permitted a test plot of industrial hemp in
Hawaii from 1999 to 2003. North Dakota's proposed
rules cover commercial hemp farming and include a
number of restrictions to alleviate law enforcement
concerns.

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

"We are pleased that North Dakota is pursuing a
common sense hemp policy by issuing hemp farming
regulations," says Vote Hemp President Eric
Steenstra. "U.S. farmers want to grow hemp legally
like their counterparts in Canada, Europe and Asia.
Many of hemp's uses such as in foods, animal
bedding, biofuel and composites will become more
viable if hemp is treated like other crops. How can
a raw material that's legal to import, to sell, to
eat and to use in all kinds of everyday products not
be legal for farmers in America to grow? No other
agricultural commodity is restricted to just
importation," says Steenstra.

Currently seven states (Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine,
Maryland, Montana, North Dakota and West Virginia)
have passed pro-hemp farming laws. Sales of hemp
foods in 2004/2005 grew by 50 percent over the
previous 12-month period. U.S. retail sales of hemp
products are estimated to now be $250 to $300
million per year. There are more than 2.5 million
cars on U.S. roads that contain hemp composites.
Hemp cultivation in Canada is expected to exceed
50,000 acres in 2006, while European farmers now
grow more than 40,000 acres. More information about
hemp legislation and the crop's many uses can be
found at http://www.VoteHemp.com
(http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=4zfwevbab.0.hzj5evbab.77w8grbab.5302&p=http%3A%2F%2Fhttp://www.VoteHemp.com)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About Vote Hemp

Vote Hemp is a non-profit organization dedicated to
the acceptance of and free market for industrial
hemp. Industrial hemp is non-psychoactive low-THC
varieties of the cannabis sativa plant.
Website: http://www.votehemp.com

Support Vote Hemp

Vote Hemp depends on donations to support its work.
Please consider making a donation to Vote Hemp.
Contribute Now http://www.votehemp.com/contribute.asp

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Vote Hemp, Inc.
Adam Eidinger
Communications Director

email: adam [at] votehemp.com
Tom Murphy
National Outreach Coordinator
email: tom [at] votehemp.com
phone: 207-236-3137


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