Dear Reader,

Welcome to the final issue of The Vote Hemp Report for 2008. In this issue, we focus on our successes over the past year and highlight some key developments.

The past year has been a good one for Vote Hemp and our supporters, and we look forward to the new year and a new administration in Washington, DC. Vote Hemp was founded in 2000 by members of the hemp industry and incorporated in the District of Columbia as a 501(c)4 non-profit organization. Since then Vote Hemp has emerged as the lead political activist organization of the hemp industry. Vote Hemp is an accomplished strategic organization working for meaningful change in Washington, DC — a necessary precursor to expanding the hemp industry in the U.S. and worldwide.

Vote Hemp is working to shift federal regulation of industrial hemp farming out of the hands of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and back to the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and to get hemp farming regulated on the state level. To accomplish these goals, we work on three primary levels: federal and state legislation, media and consumer education, and litigation when necessary.

Speaking of litigation, Rep. Dave Monson and Wayne Hauge were back in court last month in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in St. Paul, Minnesota. They were appealing a decision by the U.S. District Court, District of North Dakota, in Bismarck. All court documents related to the case, including a sound file of the oral arguments, can be found online at our Web site.

Vote Hemp and you, our contributors, are providing financial support for the farmers' 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 donations from supporters like you to do our work. Please make a year-end donation to our Hemp Farmer Licensing and Legal Support Fund now to continue supporting our efforts in North Dakota.

Early in 2008 Rural Vermont, a leading state agriculture policy non-profit organization, held a week-long series of hemp events across Vermont to raise awareness and funds to help pass the state hemp farming bill, H 267. The "Hemp Week" lecture series and film tour featured North Dakota Rep. David Monson and Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson, as well as the films "Hemp and the Rule of Law" and "Standing Silent Nation." Rural Vermont, working with Vote Hemp, ensured that an agricultural hemp farming bill was introduced, properly heard in committees and passed into law. Amy Shollenberger, Executive Director of Rural Vermont, was quoted in a local paper as saying "Eventually, the federal government is going to have to change its policy on hemp."

There are still plenty of things you can do, even if there is not an active hemp bill in your state. You can vote right now for our agricultural hemp question in the current "Open for Questions" section of Change.gov which is run by the Office of the President-Elect. Please see our recent National Action Alert for more information.

You can also click here anytime to write your Representative in Congress and ask him or her to co-sponsor HR 1009, the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2007, and educate their staff members and colleagues at the same time. If you receive a reply from your Representative, please send a copy to us to help in our efforts.

As 2008 draws to a close, we are looking forward to the next legislative season when we will have the opportunity to introduce (or re-introduce) hemp farming bills, study bills and resolutions on both the state and federal levels. All of this will take planning, coordination and funding. Please make a year-end donation to Vote Hemp today to help us continue our work and bring hemp farming back to its rightful place in America.

Best Regards and Happy New Year,

Tom Murphy
National Outreach Coordinator