The Hemp Report

By Waylon Pretends Eagle
Indian Country Today
February 22, 2008

MANDERSON, S.D. - Their home was destroyed by an electrical fire in December of 2007, but Alex and Debra White Plume haven't skipped a beat in their activities both close to home and abroad.

The former Oglala Lakota Nation president has been tapped by a biofuels company to travel to Africa where he said he will be able to accomplish some of the goals he had set for his tiyospaye on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

"I am finally getting to do what I wanted to do here on the reservation, but I have to leave this country in order to do that," White Plume said in a phone interview the week of Feb. 18.

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     A lot has happened in the world of hemp since our last issue. One item, the passage of H 267, the hemp farming bill, by the Vermont House was truly stunning. The vote was an amazing 126 to 9, well more than veto-proof. Passage of the bill was insured by the hard work of many people, especially the agriculture policy non-profit Rural Vermont. If you are a Vermont resident and you have not done so already, please write to your House representative and thank them for passing H 267.

     On the other hand, things are not going as well in Wisconsin for their hemp study bill, AB 146. The Assembly Committee on Rural Economic Development voted 9-0 last year to recommend passage, and the bill was carried over to this year. The bill is having a rough time getting a floor vote, however, and this is the last term for the bill's sponsor, Rep. Gene Hahn.

     The best thing to do is to write a postcard to Assembly Speaker Michael Huebsch and Assembly Majority Leader Jeff Fitzgerald and respectfully request that AB 146, the hemp study bill, get a vote on the floor of the Assembly. Please, no phone calls or emails. Wisconsin residents, see our Action Alert for more information and to take action.

     In North Dakota, prospective hemp farmers, State Representative David Monson and Wayne Hauge, have filed an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit of their case against the DEA that was dismissed in District Court last November. Scientific evidence clearly shows that industrial hemp, which includes the oilseed and fiber varieties of Cannabis that would be grown pursuant to North Dakota law, is genetically distinct from the drug varieties of Cannabis and has absolutely no use as a recreational drug.

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The White Plume's New Shelter

Alex White Plume, his family, and friends have been hard at work rebuilding after the devastating fire. Alex cleared away the rubble with a borrowed skid-steer and is building a shelter that will serve as an office after they build a new house in the spring. It is cold in South Dakota in the winter. Alex wrote me a couple of weeks ago "I appreciate all my friends that helped me during my loss. I am building a stick frame house to finish out the winter. It was 19 below last night."

Matt Rankin has posted three updates on the original post White Plume Home Burns To Ground over the past few weeks. Yesterday afternoon Matt sent along a brief update saying that the rebuilding is going well and that the family will be moved in within a week. He also sent along the two pictures above and below (please click on the images for larger versions).

Donations sent in have helped to pay for the lumber and other building materials Please click below to make a donation. The email address for PayPal donations is hempreport@mac.com:

Your donations, including cash and an Apple PowerBook, have helped Alex White Plume and his family immeasurably. You continued help is most welcome.

Unfinished Interior of the New Shelter

     Last Wednesday, January 30, the Vermont House Agriculture Committee voted 11-0 to support H 267, the state hemp farming bill. The committee worked hard to craft a bill that would allow farmers to grow hemp in the state, while addressing some of the concerns raised by opponents. A vote by the Vermont House is expected tomorrow. If you are a resident of Vermont and have not yet called your Representative, please read our Vermont Action Alert and make the call today!

     Former North Dakota Governor Ed Schafer, who signed the state's hemp farming law in 1999, was sworn in as the 29th Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on January 28, 2008. The Farm & Ranch Guide reported that the Schafer nomination was confirmed unanimously by both the Senate Agriculture Committee and the full Senate. For more on what this may mean politically for hemp farming in the U.S., please check out The Vote Hemp Report email newsletter The State of Hemp that was sent earlier this week.

     On a final note, last week I was talking with a reporter about the potential of hemp farming. He asked what our opponents' facts were against hemp bills. I explained that in our opinion their arguments were merely political and emotional and tended not to be factual at all. For example, compare the following two statements from law enforcement regarding the issue of potentially growing pot within a hemp field.

     Sgt. Dean Hoover of the Saskatchewan Drug Unit recently testified before the Vermont House Agriculture Committee, where he stated that "it would be really easy to spot marijuana plants in the center of a hemp field because there's such a difference in the look. Hemp plants are absolutely filled with seeds, and of course marijuana are all female plants, so there are no seeds. They want the smokable product." Such is the case, and that is indeed a reasonable statement of the facts. No pot grower would ever operate within (or anywhere near) a hemp field.

     Now compare that to testimony from Vermont State Police Lt. Warren Whitney, Assistant Director of the Vermont Forensic Laboratory, who suggested that if hemp were legalized in Vermont and permits issued, there would be an incentive to plant a couple more valuable pot plants among the hemp plants. Simply not true for various reasons, but stated with authority while playing on fear and emotion.

     It's easy to fight ignorance, but it's much harder to fight the party line — and that's what we're really up against.

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