USDA publishes Interim Final Rule establishing federal hemp production regulations
October 31, 2019
The U.S. Department of Agriculture publishes an Interim Final Rule in the Federal Register fulfilling their statutory requirement to establish federal hemp production regulations. States and tribes may now submit plans to USDA to regulate hemp under state or tribal law or they can choose to allow farmers to apply directly to USDA for a license to grow hemp.
Section 7606 of the Farm Bill signed into law authorizing hemp research
February 7, 2014
Sen. Wyden (D-OR) introduces first Senate companion hemp bill
August 2, 2012
Vote Hemp helps draft first federal Industrial Hemp Farming Act
June 22, 2005
9th Circuit Court issues unanimous ruling for the hemp industry in HIA v. DEA case
February 6, 2004
On February 6, 2004 the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a unanimous decision in favor of the Hemp Industries Association in which Judge Betty Fletcher wrote, “[T]hey (DEA) cannot regulate naturally-occurring THC not contained within or derived from marijuana-i.e. non-psychoactive hemp is not included in Schedule I. The DEA has no authority to regulate drugs that are not scheduled, and it has not followed procedures required to schedule a substance. The DEA’s definition of “THC” contravenes the unambiguously expressed intent of Congress in the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and cannot be upheld”. The Ninth Circuit held that a rule issued by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was a procedurally invalid legislative rule because the DEA failed to comply with the notice and comment requirements established by the Administrative Procedures Act (APA),
DEA publishes rules purporting to make hemp foods illegal
October 9, 2001
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) published 3 rules in the Federal Register purporting to “clarify the status of hemp.” These ill conceived rules were an attempt to ban legal hemp foods. Vote Hemp board members David Bronner, Eric Steenstra and Patrick Goggin lead an effort to file a lawsuit and injunction against the DEA rules. For more info on the legal case, visit our Hemp Food Rules page.
Jack Herer publishes “The Emperor Wears No Clothes”
June 1, 1985
The Emperor Wears No Clothes is a non-fiction book about the history of cannabis hemp written by Jack Herer. Starting in 1973, the story begins when Herer takes the advice of his friend, “Captain” Ed Adair, and begins compiling tidbits of information about the Cannabis plant and its numerous uses, including as hemp and as a drug. After a dozen years of collecting and compiling historical data, Herer first published his work as The Emperor Wears No Clothes, in 1985. Herer believed that hemp could save the planet promoted his vision and the end of Cannabis prohibition.
Marihuana Tax Act signed into law requiring farmers to register and pay a federal tax to grow hemp
August 2, 1937