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Dear Reader,
Steve Levine, President of the HIA, wrote in
the most recent HIA Newsletter that the "2008
HIA AGM & Convention was a great success.
Last month in Boston, a group of about 40 HIA
members, including the new Board of
Directors, got together and listened to an
international group of hemp business leaders
and entrepreneurs who spoke during a full day
of presentations. It was truly amazing."
I was lucky enough to have been able to
attend the convention for the first time, and
I agree that it was amazing! Vote Hemp had a
board meeting as well and we are working hard
to help educate and advocate for agricultural
hemp in the new administration. Next year the
HIA will be holding its convention in
Washington, DC and we will have an
opportunity to see up close what progress we
have made on issues related to farming hemp
again in the U.S.
In related news, two North Dakota farmers,
who filed a lawsuit in June of 2007 to end
the Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA)
ban on commercial hemp farming in the U.S.,
will be back in court today in St. Paul,
Minnesota. The farmers, North Dakota State
Rep. David Monson and Wayne Hauge, are
appealing a decision by the U.S. District
Court, District of North Dakota. The oral
arguments before the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the Eighth Circuit are open to the public
and all court documents related to the case
can be found online.
In 2007 the North Dakota Legislature removed
the requirement that state-licensed
industrial hemp farmers first obtain DEA
permits before growing hemp. The question
before the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals
will be whether or not federal authorities
can prosecute state-licensed farmers who grow
non-drug oilseed and fiber hemp pursuant to
North Dakota state law. Vote Hemp, the
nation's leading industrial hemp advocacy
group, and its supporters are providing
financial support for the lawsuit. If it is
successful, states across the nation will be
free to implement their own hemp farming laws
without fear of federal interference.
Vote Hemp depends entirely on contributions
from supporters like you to do our work. Your
contribution
to our Hemp Farmer Licensing and Legal
Support Fund will help North Dakota farmers.
We need and truly appreciate your support!
Best Regards,
Tom Murphy
Hemp News Update Editor
| Hemp Shorts: |
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A
Guide to Milk Alternatives
Lori
Corbin, "The Food Coach," at KABC-TV in Los
Angeles does a very good job taking a look a
non-dairy beverages, including hemp milk.
Oral
Arguments Set in Hemp Appeal
The
Bismarck Tribune has the latest in the
case of two North Dakota farmers who want to
grow industrial hemp. Vote Hemp and their
supporters are helping to fund the case.
Hemp
Harvest in the Ord
HIA Member Hemp
Resources has just harvested the first
hemp in Western Australia's Ord Valley region
in nearly a decade, and looks to plant 500
hectares next year. Chief executive Kim Hough
hopes that legislation will be passed so that
hemp seed may be sold as a food product in
Australia.
Hemp
for Car Parts – New Eco Businesses Grow
from Plants With EU and EEDA
Funding
Business Weekly reports
that hemp fiber for car parts will be
supported through the InCrops
Project.
False
Results Put Drug Tests Under
Microscope
This USA TODAY story
begins" For Nadine Artemis and Ron Obadia,
August began with plans for a family vacation
in Minnesota. The vacation ended with the two
Canadian citizens being led through Toronto's
airport in handcuffs, locked up and separated
from their baby." The rest is a must read.
Click
here (mp3 sound file) and listen to this
intriguing and educational interview on Boston
Progressive Talk Radio with Hempest
co-founder Jon Napoli that gives some insight
on some of the goals of the store.
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| Millionaire Puffs Up Hemp Uses |
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Ryan Sharp of Perfect Food Co. at the HIA
Convention. Photo credit: Will Nunnally,
Boston Herald.
By Greg Turner
Boston
Herald
October 21, 2008
The Hemp Industries Association wants Andrew
Lahde to put some of the millions he made as
a hedge-fund manager where his mouth is.
The trade group latched onto Lahde after he
called it quits from the world of finance
Friday in an eyebrow-raising letter in which
he thanked "stupid" investors for enriching
him and pushed for the legalization of marijuana.
But Lahde also hyped hemp, the non-drug
cousin of Cannabis, as an untapped
food and energy source.
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| Surfboard Shapers Ride an Eco-Friendly Wave |
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Country Feelings Surfboards on Oahu's North
Shore uses plant-based materials. Photo
credit: Kyle Bernhardt.
Hawaii Blogs
SF Gate
October 8, 2008
This summer Jeff Bushman and Kyle Bernhardt
launched the Country Feeling Surfboards line,
which uses "soy- and sugar-based foams,
plant-based and solar-activated resins, and
hemp, silk, and bamboo cloth," according to
their press release. As Bernhardt explained
in a phone interview last night, he and his
partner, both originally from California, had
been "messing around with the stuff" for
almost two years before they decided to
create their line of boards built from
alternative materials.
"All last year I was riding daily my
prototype boards," said Bernhardt, a
Peninsula-raised surfer who went to San
Francisco State University and ran the San
Francisco Surf Shop before heading to Haleiwa
in 1999. "There's a learning curve that's
been happening – the first blanks we
got were not good, but now they're a lot
better. For the recreational surfer, they're
totally up to par."
Among other emission-reducing measures,
Country Feelings uses soy-based foam blanks
from Homeblown USA and sugar-based blanks
from Ice-Nine Foamworks for its shapes, which
include fishes, single-fins, twin-fins,
funboards, longboards, and stand-up paddleboards.
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| Owner Told to Stop Selling Hemp Items |
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Randy Caine of Hempyz. Photo credit: Heather
Colpitts/Langley Advance.
By Heather Colpitts
Langley
Advance
November 4, 2008
Stop selling hemp products.
That's the solution offered gift and novelty
store owner Randy Caine if he wants to keep
Hempyz open downtown.
On Monday, a package arrived from Langley
City's law firm, Woodward Walker, ordering
him to stop selling hemp products.
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N.D. Farmers Appeal to Grow Hemp |
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Wayne Hauge, left, and Dave Monson discuss
their lawsuit. Photo credit: Will Kincaid,
The Bismarck Tribune.
By Donna Leinwand
USA
TODAY
November 6, 2008
Two North Dakota farmers will ask a federal
appeals court in St. Paul on Wednesday to
allow them to grow hemp on their farms, even
though the federal government says it's illegal.
Farmer Dave Monson, a Republican
representative in the North Dakota
Legislature, says the variety of the
Cannabis sativa plant grown as hemp is
an ideal crop to rotate annually with wheat
and barley.
Canadian farmers 20 miles north of his
Osnabrock farm do a brisk business selling
their hemp to Detroit carmakers who use it
inside door panels and for insulation in
seats, he says.
Monson says the hemp has no value as a drug
because it has a low concentration of THC,
the ingredient in marijuana that causes a high.
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