BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A federal appeals court on Tuesday affirmed a lower court’s decision to dismiss a lawsuit by two North Dakota farmers who said they should be allowed to grow industrial hemp without fear of federal criminal prosecution.

Wayne Hauge and David Monson received North Dakota’s first state licenses to grow industrial hemp nearly three years ago, but they’ve never received approval from the Drug Enforcement Administration. The farmers sued the DEA, and their case has been before the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for more than a year after U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland dismissed it.

Hemp, which is used to make paper, lotion and other products, is related to the illegal drug marijuana. Under federal law, parts of an industrial hemp plant are considered controlled substances.

Hovland told the farmers the best remedy might be to ask Congress to change the law to explicitly distinguish hemp from marijuana.

“I guess the next step is we’ll have to take it to Congress,” said Hauge, who grows garbanzo beans and other crops near the northwestern North Dakota town of Ray. “The fastest and easiest way to handle this would be for the president to order the Department of Justice to stand down on all actions against industrial hemp.”

Dawn Dearden, a DEA spokeswoman in Washington, D.C., said the agency could not comment on the case.

The farmers’ attorney, Tim Purdon of Bismarck, would not comment on the appeals court decision.

David Monson, a Republican state legislator and farmer from Osnabrock in northeastern North Dakota, said Congress likely has no time to deal with the hemp issue.

“With all the other things, hemp is not high on their priority list, and I can understand that,” Monson said.

“Somehow, we need to get enough states involved so Congress can take action on it,” Monson said.

North Dakota officials issued Monson and Hauge the nation’s first licenses to grow industrial hemp in 2007. But without permission from the DEA, the farmers could be arrested for growing the crop.

Hemp contains trace amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, a banned substance, and it falls under federal anti-drug rules, the DEA says. Hemp proponents say it is safe because it contains only trace amounts of THC, and not enough to produce a high.

Vote Hemp, the lobbying arm of the hemp industry, has helped fund the farmers’ legal battle. Spokesman Adam Eidinger said the group has spent about $60,000 to date. He said he was disappointed with Tuesday’s ruling.

“The 8th Circuit is kind of conservative, so I can’t say I’m totally surprised,” he said.

Eidinger said only a handful of states have passed pro-hemp farming laws. He said North Dakota is the first state to craft rules to license industrial hemp farmers.

Monson had planned to seed 10 acres of hemp on his farm the northeastern part of the state. He said hemp is grown 25 miles north of his farm in Canada, where production has been legal since 1998, after 60 years of prohibition.

Hauge said he hopes someday to seed 100 acres of hemp on his farm.

“My great-grand dad homesteaded here more than 100 years ago, with a sod house on the wide-open prairie,” Hauge said. “If he could do that, I can stand a small amount of adversity to grow industrial hemp.” Source.

November 1, 2009-I am a fourth generation farmer, grandfather of three, and have never been arrested for anything. I traveled to Washington, D.C. to join hemp business leaders in a symbolic planting of hemp seeds on DEA headquarters’ front lawn. This action was taken to raise awareness of the distinction between industrial hemp and marijuana. Today non-dairy milks, protein powders, cereals, soaps and lotions are made from the nutritious omega 3 rich hemp seed, while everything from clothing to building materials to automobile paneling is made from hemp’s fiber and woody core.

Along with another North Dakota farmer and state Rep. David Monson, I am involved in a lawsuit against DEA, now in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, to prevent DEA interference with licensed North Dakota farmers cultivating and processing industrial hemp under North Dakota’s state industrial hemp program. However, it has been almost a year since the case was given to the judges to decide if states can act without federal government intervention.

I personally do not harbor a grudge nor have an agenda against the DEA, I have the greatest respect for those who serve our country, whether local police or members of the armed services who are now abroad. The DEA is carrying out its Bush-era mandate to not allow cannabis in the United States, just as any soldier given an order by a superior officer and I respect that. It is time, however, to change the order and make the international non-drug standard of 0.3% THC the point at which hemp cultivars of cannabis are under control and regulation by USDA as an agricultural crop.

The ideal immediate policy approach, similar to the recent medical cannabis directive from the Department of Justice (that oversees the DEA) directing DEA and US Attorneys to respect states’ medical cannabis laws, is for the DOJ to simply direct DEA to respect and not interfere with state industrial hemp programs.
Further, Congress should pass legislation allowing cultivation of industrial hemp under state industrial hemp programs. There is a hemp bill currently in the House of Representatives that has not yet been given a committee hearing because it needs more sponsors.

I recently sent a letter to my state’s representative asking why if our state has had such an overwhelming support for cultivation of industrial hemp by both Democrats and Republicans, as well as the Governor of North Dakota, that he has not co-sponsored that hemp farming bill. You too, regardless of the state you live in, should contact your state’s elected representatives to sponsor this hemp farming bill and communicate with the DOJ to change DEA policy.

Only when hemp is no longer deemed an illegal crop, can true R&D be done and American farmers catch up with the rest of the world. Imagine a house either built new or modified with hempcrete that is lighter yet stronger than traditional wood frame construction, or hemp blown-in insulation which resists pests and molds, and a wind generator in the back yard with blades made with hemp fibers, and your daughter who goes to her first school prom wearing a dress made of hemp. All this can be done now, but imagine the possibilities when hemp is free to be studied in universities across the US.

The time is now to change the order to DEA. Nine states have passed legislation supporting cultivation of industrial hemp. The people understand that hemp is simply a crop with great potential. Will hemp be grown on a million acres? Not the first couple years, but other countries are supplying the booming US market.

Do I have regrets for participating as one of the “Hemp Six” in ceremonially seeding hemp on DEA’s front lawn? No, I do not. I will, however, not do it again. Like I told my sons when they were growing up, “do a job right the first time.” A video available at Vote Hemp’s web site (www.VoteHemp.com) shows the action; Vote Hemp represents thousands of citizens, including farmers, businesses and consumers, who support re-commercializing of industrial hemp as a sustainable profitable rotation crop for American farmers. Vote Hemp sponsored my participation in this event and has paid for my legal expenses in the law suit against DEA.

As you sit reading this and nodding your head in general agreement, don’t put off contacting your state’s representatives to have Obama’s Department of Justice order DEA to stand down on actions against seeding industrial hemp in the United States.

(Wayne Hauge is a fourth generation farmer from North Dakota who grows barley, chickpeas, durum and lentils, and someday industrial hemp near Ray.)

Video from February 2008: