The Hemp Report

     Well, the past week was definitely a "two steps forward, one step back" or, depending on how cynical you are, a "one step forward, two steps back" kind of week. The decision by the U.S. District Court in Bismarck, North Dakota in favor of the DEA's motion to dismiss the ND farmers' lawsuit (Monson v. DEA) was disappointing, but it really wasn't all that surprising.

     There is an old Japanese proverb that says "a frog in a well cannot comprehend the ocean." It seems that those with the power to revive industrial hemp farming in the United States see the crop as does a frog in a well. We need to find effective ways to educate them and help them to see the ocean by changing their world-view.

     You can help people better understand this issue by doing small things, like commenting on news stories that contain errors, as I did recently concerning the story "Yesterday's News: Effort Aimed at Helping World War II Eventually Turned into 'Dread Menace'." Ten minutes a day adds up to sixty hours a year. Ten minutes does not seem like much, but the impact can be huge. Similarly, your individual efforts may not seem so significant, but multiply those by thousands of people, and things will change. If you need some ideas, please check out the ten Quick Links in this newsletter (online), including Vote Hemp's new StumbleUpon page.

     Going to Congress may seem like the easy answer, but the likelihood of it acting without some sort of miracle seems remote, especially during election time. North Dakota Ag Commissioner Roger Johnson noted this in the latest ND Department of Agriculture press release, as did The Minot Daily News in their editorial "Congress Should Solve Hemp Issue — But Will It?" Long-time hemp supporter and Hawaii state legislator Cynthia Thielen expanded on this thought in her commentary "Irrational Fear Sustains Taboo on Handy Hemp" in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.

     Where does this leave us? The legal team for the North Dakota farmers, Dave Monson and Wayne Hauge, is looking at all options and is considering appealing the Court's decision.

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