Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
A Portland attorney and a Southern Oregon environmentalist are asking the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to take industrial hemp off the federal government's list of controlled substances.
The petition, filed June 13, is the latest move by people who believe industrial hemp could be a viable agricultural crop if the federal government didn't classify it as an illegal drug. They have long contended hemp can be used to make food, medicine, clothing, lotions, construction material, oils and other products.
Some states, Oregon among them, allow licensed hemp cultivation but keep it tightly controlled. The petition notes that 30 other countries allow hemp cultivation, including Canada. The petition letter says state economies, the environment and national security "would greatly benefit from the re-commercialization of industrial hemp in domestic agriculture and manufacturing."
Industrial hemp is a variety of cannabis, but lacks the THC level that makes pot smokers high.
The petition asks the DEA to declare a cannabis plant is industrial hemp, not marijuana, if its THC level does not exceed 1 percent. THC is the substance that gives users a buzz.
Industrial hemp is low in THC but has higher levels of Cannabidiol, or CBD, which some advocates say can be used to treat seizures.
West Virginia uses the 1 percent THC content level as its hemp definition, while other states, such as Oregon, say THC in hemp cannot exceed 0.3 percent.
The petitioners maintain that keeping the THC limit so low limits the number of cannabis varieties that can be bred and cultivated for traits that may be desirable in certain uses or products.
In an attempt to steer around controversy, the petitioners' letter to the DEA says they take no position on the legalization or decriminalization of medical or recreational marijuana, or on whether CBD has medical uses.
The petition from Oregon residents is the second to hit the DEA in June. Earlier, the Kentucky Hemp Industries Council filed a petition to remove hemp plants from the Controlled Substances Act.
The chief petitioners are attorney Courtney Moran, of Portland, and Andy Kerr, a figure from Oregon's spotted owl timber wars who now heads an Ashland conservation entity called the Larch Company. Others among the two dozen co-petitioners include the North American Industrial Hemp Council, Oregon state Rep. Floyd Prozanski of Eugene, and Anndrea Hermann, a Canadian cannabis and hemp technologies consultant who also teaches an industrial hemp course in the College of Forestry's Wood Science Engineering Department at Oregon State University.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Petition Asks DEA To Quit Treating Industrial Hemp Like Marijuana
Author: Eric Mortenson
Contact: 503-412-8846
Photo Credit: None found
Website: Capital Press
The petition, filed June 13, is the latest move by people who believe industrial hemp could be a viable agricultural crop if the federal government didn't classify it as an illegal drug. They have long contended hemp can be used to make food, medicine, clothing, lotions, construction material, oils and other products.
Some states, Oregon among them, allow licensed hemp cultivation but keep it tightly controlled. The petition notes that 30 other countries allow hemp cultivation, including Canada. The petition letter says state economies, the environment and national security "would greatly benefit from the re-commercialization of industrial hemp in domestic agriculture and manufacturing."
Industrial hemp is a variety of cannabis, but lacks the THC level that makes pot smokers high.
The petition asks the DEA to declare a cannabis plant is industrial hemp, not marijuana, if its THC level does not exceed 1 percent. THC is the substance that gives users a buzz.
Industrial hemp is low in THC but has higher levels of Cannabidiol, or CBD, which some advocates say can be used to treat seizures.
West Virginia uses the 1 percent THC content level as its hemp definition, while other states, such as Oregon, say THC in hemp cannot exceed 0.3 percent.
The petitioners maintain that keeping the THC limit so low limits the number of cannabis varieties that can be bred and cultivated for traits that may be desirable in certain uses or products.
In an attempt to steer around controversy, the petitioners' letter to the DEA says they take no position on the legalization or decriminalization of medical or recreational marijuana, or on whether CBD has medical uses.
The petition from Oregon residents is the second to hit the DEA in June. Earlier, the Kentucky Hemp Industries Council filed a petition to remove hemp plants from the Controlled Substances Act.
The chief petitioners are attorney Courtney Moran, of Portland, and Andy Kerr, a figure from Oregon's spotted owl timber wars who now heads an Ashland conservation entity called the Larch Company. Others among the two dozen co-petitioners include the North American Industrial Hemp Council, Oregon state Rep. Floyd Prozanski of Eugene, and Anndrea Hermann, a Canadian cannabis and hemp technologies consultant who also teaches an industrial hemp course in the College of Forestry's Wood Science Engineering Department at Oregon State University.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Petition Asks DEA To Quit Treating Industrial Hemp Like Marijuana
Author: Eric Mortenson
Contact: 503-412-8846
Photo Credit: None found
Website: Capital Press
