The DEA is back to pushing against the bill to legalize hemp farming with a set of talking points, which mostly boils down to, as we’ve said here before, that law enforcement is too stupid to figure out the difference.
Ryan Grim reports: DEA Wages Hemp War Behind The Scenes In House
The Drug Enforcement Administration has kicked its lobbying against legalizing industrial hemp into high gear, hoping to block an amendment in the House that would decriminalize the crop for research purposes.[…]
The Huffington Post has obtained a copy of talking points the DEA is circulating among members of Congress to press them to oppose the amendment — raising the seemingly incongruous specter of the government using its resources to lobby itself.
The talking points, paradoxically, represent a step forward in the debate. In the Senate, hemp advocates were left only to counter vague “law enforcement concerns” that senators told HuffPost were a factor in their willingness to support reform. By laying out those specific reforms, hemp backers will attempt to rebut them point by point.
Broadly, the DEA’s case focuses on the supposed inability to easily distinguish between hemp and its cousin, marijuana. The similarity, the DEA argues, would allow pot growers to shield their plants behind rows of hemp plants. But the DEA appears not to have gotten the talk about the birds and the bees. […]
The DEA also says that there’s already a system in place for growing industrial hemp…
The CSA permits the cultivation of cannabis for industrial purposes, provided the grower has obtained a DEA registration to do so.
Yeah, good luck getting one of those.
Update: Amendment #37 passed the House 225 to 200!
Further update: However, the farm bill itself didn’t pass. Good news is that when it does, better odds that this amendment will be able to ride with it.
By the way, in response to several commenters, my understanding is that this amendment actually bypasses the DEA approval process for university research purposes (someone correct me if I’m wrong).
In the Huffington Post article the DEA’s talking points also include this gem;
“It should be noted that the FDA has expressly declined to recognize “hemp seed oil” as generally recognized as safe.”
Take it away Will Rogers: “When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging”.
That should be the Certain Drug Prohibition proponents’ slogan.
THIS! THIS! This, alone, is proof positive the DEA is deserving of immediate banishment! Even Congress should be able to discern how their case establishes their incompetence! DEA is still making this incredibly self-insulting argument! Polis, Blumenauer, Wyden – take their bogus logic & buffet them mercilessly about the head & shoulders. Make THIS the angle of attack the next time Leonhart has to appear!
That’s too bad. Up here in Canada, our hemp farmers have really enjoyed taking your money for the past 15 years or so. Looks like the gravy train is about to end.
my ex-employer (Bill Conde) bought Canuckistan’s first test crop and with it produced hemp MDF boards at Washington State University Wood Materials testing lab. Here’s Conde’s partner Dave Seber (it was Dave that first hired me, Conde was wintering in Belize at the time) speaking at Seattle HempFest, 2011:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBZTCKJ2QX4
It was always so nice to have the sample boards in the office… a good show and tell can really make a difference.
The gummint shutting Conde down screwed me and the others working for him. I still haven’t recovered from the damage that losing such a good, enjoyable, well paying job caused to my life. Ever had a job where you get tipped in sticky Oregon green bud? While working for Conde I never had to buy ganja.
Whether it was customers coming to the lumber yard or when I would deliver units of redwood, a large percentage of our customers were potheads themselves and as we who smoke it know, pot is meant to be shared. That so many were cannabis consumers is in a way shocking, considering that the lion’s share of our customers owned their homes…. after I left Conde’s I truly didn’t know anyone who sold pot. Me! Crikey…
… we never checked IDs when given checks. And people would be surprised. I’d smile and say “let me guess, you own your home?” and they’d smile and say “yeah, we do.”
I could take my one of my kids when I had all day deliveries… and I drove all over western Oregon, back into the hills and nooks and crannies of one of the prettiest places on earth. With pot leaf garlands painted all around the cab of the truck, it was an instant conversation starter.
Fuck canada
“Limited” he says… PROHIBITED, you damn idjit.
and he’s from a farm state. Of course, it is Iowa. Which so far is the strangest state I’ve passed thru in my travels (Idaho is right behind ’em tho’).
oops, forgot the link:
House approves hemp cultivation in colleges, universities
allan,,is this more smoke and mirrors,,congress passes it,Obama signs it and turns it back over to the DEA to issue permits,,the same thing available now,,with the DEA deciding eligibility the permits will be few to none.
may well be Clay… the point for me is that there still 200 Representatives in the House that think hippies are gonna grow pot in hemp fields. That 225 voted for is also a minor victory…
If nothing else, it’s another sharp stick in Prohibition’s eye. And I’m all for as many sharp sticks as we can jab.
It’s like the old lawyer joke (except with Prohibs it’s no joke), how do you know when they’re lying? when their lips move.
If we let them they’ll suffocate themselves with all the feet they keep sticking in their mouths. Said, another way (and an option preferred by many on our side) give them enough rope and they’ll hang themselves.
There’s nothing in the amendment about the DEA. The full amendment is pasted below. Where did you hear the DEA still has to issue permits?
1 SEC. 7605. LEGITIMACY OF INDUSTRIAL HEMP RESEARCH.
2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the Controlled
3 Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.), the Drug-Free
4 Workplace Act of 1988 (41 U.S.C. 8101 et seq.), the Safe
5 and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act of 1986 (20
6 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.), or any other Federal law, an institu-
7 tion of higher education (as defined in section 101 of the
8 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)) may
9 grow or cultivate industrial hemp if—
10 (1) the industrial hemp is grown or cultivated
11 for purposes of agricultural research or other aca-
12 demic research; and
13 (2) the growing or cultivating of industrial
14 hemp is allowed under the laws of the State in which
15 such institution of higher education is located and
16 such research occurs.
17 (b) INDUSTRIAL HEMP DEFINED.—In this section,
18 the term ‘‘industrial hemp’’ means the plant Cannabis
1 sativa L. and any part of such plant, whether growing or
2 not, with a delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of 3 not more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis.
because they are in charge of them now,,right now you can get a permit to grow hemp..it has to be approved by the DEA because hemp is still schedule 1 because it has traces of thc and cbd’s,,
Since they’ve isolated CBD in flax, why is flax still legal?
cause it ain’t medicine and the fibers are weak compared to hemp,,only very fine cloth can be produced with flax and it doesn’t last under stress.
The fabric made from flax is called linen and if taken care of properly is a long lasting, lint free, and very soft and comfortable fabric against the skin.
Windy,,linen is strong enough for what it is but it is about 1/3 the strength and durability of hemp fibers,,as I said it does not stand up to stresses as well as hemp,,as a shirt or light piece of clothing it is fine.
In Illinois, wild hemp can be found growing in most northwestern counties. Which raises the question, if tons of wild hemp are growing in the Midwest, and the feds and locals can do little or nothing to stop it, what makes the DEA believe prohibiting cultivation of commercial hemp is going to make a difference? The question presumes for the moment that the DEA is rational on this topic.
Maybe it’s because the DEA hands out big money annually for marijuana eradication, which would include eliminating hemp plants. The DEA refuses to distinguish between hemp and marijuana, so the DEA can claim they and the Boy Scouts helped eliminate X-amount of marijuana plants in their bogus reports to Congress. By misidentifying priorities, the government agency defrauds the taxpayer. The DEA hemp deniers achieve nothing beyond glorifying their fetid existence to those who never question the DEA’s motives.
As reported back in 2006;
“98 Percent Of All Domestically Eradicated Marijuana Is “Ditchweed,” DEA Admits.”
Which reminds me of a story I read a while back (paraphrasing from what I remember);
A news reporter (I believe this was somewhere in Iowa) was invited to observe DEA agents eradicating ‘marijuana’ plants outside the small town where he lived. He was told to meet the agents at a central location where ‘marijuana’ plants were being unloaded to eventually be carried away by helicopter. Pickup trucks with cannabis plants arrived at the location and their haul was dumped onto a large net. The reporter, having lived in the area, couldn’t help but notice that the ‘marijuana’ plants closely resembled local ditchweed. When the net was full a helicopter arrived and corners of the net were attached to a large hook hanging from the helicopter. As the helicopter rose and flew away, the reporter noticed debris falling from the net. He walked over to see what the debris consisted of. It was small bits of plant material mixed with — seeds. He watched as the material rained out of the net over the landscape as the helicopter flew to a location where the ‘marijuana’ was to be burned. So while the DEA was proudly showing off their eradication efforts, they were also sowing the seeds for next years sure-to-be successful eradication efforts.
It’s just pure genius.
Note: I’m providing the gist of the story as I remember it. I’ll bet someone has a link to this story with all the proper details with corrections to my recollections ;).
From time to time I wonder if the reason THC levels in the 1970s were so low was because they included eradimacated feral hemp in the calculation.
We obviously need to ban all white powders (they look too much like cocaine), all mushrooms (you really think cops are smart enough to distinguish the psychedelic varieties from the non-psychedelic?), all colorless, odorless, tasteless, water soluble substances (every one a dead ringer for LSD), and all legally-prescribed pharmaceutical drugs (they look exactly like illegally-obtained prescription drugs). I mean, it’s only logical.
DEA lost this one. We won. Here’s the DEA “Talking Points in Opposition to the Polis Amendment (#37) to H.R. 1947 (FARRM bill)” http://bit.ly/103PTeB (PDF file 426 KB)
I don’t think they lost shit,,they distracted us by acting like they were fighting it when all along control of the permits remains with them,,also they are still keeping hemp from harming big paper and Dupont Chemical because studies are not producing enough o effect the market,,the people that we know paid for marijuana prohibition in 1937.
They are using the same tactic in WA and CO by keeping production costs and taxes so expensive that it does not impact the black market,,,they have claimed that legalization would not effect the black market and Kleinman is there to make sure.
I agree and disagree Clay… materially, they didn’t lose shit ’cause as you point out all the restrictions remain as long as the DEA is the controlling agency. But this is a kick in the shins.
This will get more people asking, “wtf?” You and I know real victories are rare. But when you take all the fronts in which holes are opening the DEA is gonna run out of pinkies and tootsies with which to plug all these holes appearing in the dike.
Oregon’s HB 3460 (creates a dispensary system) just passed the OR house and rec’d a “do pass” letter from state AG Ellen Rosenblum and the League of Oregon Cities.
And don’t forget, Hickenlooper just signed CO’s hemp bill and Springfield, CO farmer Ryan Loflin has already planted his crop. Tho’ interestingly I see nothing news wise since he planted. He otter have babies by now.
self correction… HB 3460 moved from full committee on Ways and Means to the floor of the House
the one page ‘talking points’ refers to hemp as a schedule 1 drug three times, and as a highly addictive drug with no medical uses and as “dangerous”
I think more and more of the public now realize this is nothing but BS….
DEAth Merchants selling prohibition along with the drug worriers propaganda. Nixon lied and 40 years of unethical immoral unscrupulous lies and denialists diversions keeping their Walmartian products without competition that would drive them out of business if legal. Profits on prohibition can not remain the driving force behind the cowards act of protecting the kids. Enough with the good old boys liars club. Off with their heads!
Cannabis Eradications 99.28% Ditchweed Schwagg!
The national total of ditchweed eradicated compared to the total number of plants seized is 99.28 percent resulting in less than one percent cultivated indoor and outdoor plant eradication percentage at the national level,” the report concludes. Wild growing marijuana patches — known as ditchweed — are common throughout the southern and midwestern United States. Many of the plants are remnants from government-subsidized plots grown during World War II when low-THC strains of marijuana were harvested for their fiber content. This strain of marijuana will not intoxicate users when smoked.
Got Hemp?
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/ncnu02/images/hemp04.jpg
United States National Institute of Health, University of Mississippi marijuana plantation site, showing variation in plant size. A tall fiber-type of hemp plant is shown at left, and a short narcotic variety (identified as “Panama Goldâ€) at right.
Why Do You Think They Call it DOPE?
* Cannabis Hemp: The Invisible Prohibition Revealed
* The Elkhorn Manifesto
* Marijuana and Hemp: The Untold Story
Cause if they called it the planets most beneficial source of fiber, food, fuel and FARMaceuticals people might want it. After-all they do live in the Airplane movie.
— Steve Hager – High Times Editor (1988 – 2003)
“We have spent over a trillion dollars trying to eradicate the world’s most beneficial plant off the face of the earth. Imagine what a better world this would be if that money had been spent on treatment, education and studying the medical benefits of marijuana.”
No,thats just what they’ll be expecting us to do
Striker : Tell ’em the gear is down and we’re ready to land.
Elaine : The gear is down and we’re ready to land.
Kramer : Alright, he’s on final now,
put out all runway lights except 9er.
Towerguy: Captain,
maybe we ought to turn on the search lights now.
MCrosky: No,thats just what they’ll be expecting us to do
Well, it looks as if finally we’ve done dancing around the topic of racial disparity in drug arrests. This is the last layer of the onion, folks. Good to see it in the press, if only the alternative press:
http://www.truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/item/18039-packing-jails-with-minorities-for-marijuana-violations-is-racist
I am waiting for the churches to really get behind this,,it is building up now like a pressure cooker building up steam,,all the gears are lining up and the wrecking ball is poised,,
Didn’t someone figure out how many pounds of industrial hemp at ,003 THC it would take to produce one fluid ounce of hash oil? I am having flashbacks of a couch discussion on it months ago.
DEA is intentionally conflating hemp oil and hash oil because of Rick Simpson’s Youtube video, which does the same thing. If you don’t understand something, or have doubts about it, you vote no. Disinformation campaigns prey on that principle.
Let me see, the ban on American grown hemp, while allowing foreign hemp (and any products in which hemp can compete with) is a violation of the 1890 Sherman Anti-Trust Act. The DEA purposely destroys and discourages fair business practices . . . and because the DEA gets paid and their job makes it where China can benefit more than America can, one must assume that these jokes have more in common with Robber Barons than they do with the Department of Justice/Federal Government . . . to call the DEA a Federal Law Enforcement Agency (because of hemp) is like calling Tomatoes, Corn. So, these jerks don’t know the difference between ‘Girl Scout Cookie’ buds from a pair of socks made from hemp.
And during WWII, America had legal and historical precedents to grow hemp for the war: “Hemp for Victory.†Yet, America is at war with Radical Terrorists and hemp could be beneficial for our troops and the workers making our war goods (and could possibly cost less, be cleaner and just as good). So, because the DEA won’t let the American military utilize hemp during war, this is legal grounds to call the DEA a group of Terrorist Sympathizers, whom are going out of their way to commit not only treason, but sabotage against American factories . . . who said sabotage had to be violent and physically destructive. Lack of hemp is completely disruptive to our Armed Forces. I think we should give them a choice of what kind of rope they want to swing from: Hemp or nylon.
Hemp could be legal!
Ask your elected officials in Congress to support the hemp amendment to the farm bill. One of the most absurd consequences of our war on marijuana is that hemp has been caught up in the debate. Even though it contains virtually no THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, the DEA considers hemp no different than marijuana, placing it in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act alongside heroin and LSD. As a result, it’s illegal for American farmers to grow it, and the U.S. imports millions of dollars in hemp products from countries like China. Fortunately, Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY) have teamed up to support an effort to end this senseless policy. Please contact your members of Congress and urge them to support the hemp amendment to the farm bill. Hurry, this vote could happen any day!
U.S. House to Vote on Hemp Research Amendment
Take Action
Outlawing Hemp is no different than if they would outlaw bottled water because it looks like moonshine. Its a scam for the fossil fools. Flat out fascism by every definition of the word. Note, if growers really wanted to camouflage their plants there is supposedly a way. Although I have doubts and have never heard of it actually being done. But it does make more sense than hiding Ganja in a hemp field to pollinate expensive kind bud into burlap. But to outlaw hops and piss off Mr Budguizer and Coors isn’t very prudent at this juncture.
How To Grow Pot Plants That Don’t Look Like Ganja
Shortly after America entered World War II, a pair of investigators tried to produece an improved bybrid by grafting cannabis plants onto the rootstocks of hops (Humulus lupulus). Hops is the only relative of marijuana. It even produces a mildly narcotic resin,lupuline, which is chemically akin to THC. Since both plants have similar chemistry as well as being members of the same family, it was reasonable to assume that the graft had a good chance of succeeding. But it failed. However, when the situation was reversed-that is, when hop vines were grafted onto cannabis rootstocks- not only was the transfer sucessful, but the leaves of the matured hop plants contained as much cannibinol resins as the original marijuana plants would have produced. In other words what you come up with is a thirty-foot-long vegetable which to all onlookers looks like an ordinary law-abiding hops vine,
I really hope I’m wrong but it seems they lie and manipulate statistics and stall research and even ban science from determining the truth. I see no reason they will just give up profits in competition with hemp cellulose and fiber. Just because its best for Americans. They have patents and a whole plant extract to push in drug stores. Keeping dispensaries and especially hemp outlawed. I have no problem with pharmacies selling sublingual sprays if that is what the patients want. But not at the cost of keeping the people shut out of the process. Let the free market weed out the competition, not the tax paid DEA.
Is The DEA Legalizing THC?
By the same token if Florida or any other reefer madhatters decide to wipe out Ganja by spraying the fungus, Fusarium oxysporum. Since they are genetically linked the hops would disappear just as quickly. OK for spraying Colombian kids near coca cola fields though. Such deception and harm to the people in the name of profits. Just another brick in the wall. They gladly pave paradise to put up a parking lot.
Over two weeks ago, while I was on Vacation in Vegas, I wrote to my Senator and Congressman . . . Today I wrote to my other senator. But I’m not sure they’re very bright . . . I’d get better results if I wrote to them proposing legislation that makes it a law where Ice Cream has to be cold. Gee-whiz Pete and the rest of you on the Couch: you won’t even let me enjoy my vacation without making me aware and concerned for our nation . . . but then again, the fight against injustice never sleeps and doesn’t have much time to play craps or roulette either. Then again, I don’t want to become the hypocrite of my twist on Edmund Burke’s quote: ‘When good men do nothing, then good men become evil.’
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Try as I might I just can’t get used to Dr. Tashkin being our friend. On the other hand I can’t think of anyone more qualified to be the bearer of his message. This is new from him:
Big Sentencing Ruling Today from the Supreme Court
by David Borden, June 17, 2013
stopthedrugwar
Team Obama vs. Team Marijuana
I remember when Hawaii tried to grow Hemp it caused a ruckus. Czarbarry McCaffrey was having conniptions. They tried busting 17 truck loads of hemp birdseed coming out of Canada for US pet stores, the past 60 years without stopping. When the DEA monarchy finally gave its royal seal of approval. It required hundreds of thousands of dollars in security fencing, cameras and guards. After a few years they went out of business. When the Indians tried to utilize their supposed sovereignty to grow a hemp crop. The DEA swooped onto the reservation and chopped it all down. Better to rely on welfare and stay poor like good indians. Hemp is the target, Ganja is outlawed because of it. Wall St runs the Ganjawar. As I see it unfold, we the people are doing it in spite of the government intrusions. Even importing my hemp blue jeans with its durability and tensile strength greater than the poison prone cotton I get more bang for my buck. Not as good as if we could grow it locally and bypass Walmartian scab and slave labor products. But as it is I haven’t worn anything else for 15 years. What is the message to these kids? Starving Babies and Illegal Food Or the majority of prohibitionists call themselves pro life while they spread 90 million pounds of poisons over the US cotton crop. Not used on Hemp. Same as saveding the kids forfeiting their home and farming out the siblings to for profit foster care. They treat problems even if they have to create the problems. Treatment is profit, cures and prevention aren’t. That’s the way it is, this 20th day of June, 2013.
The Ganjawar Comes to the The Rez – 12/19/03
Once again we must ask…
Why Do You Think They Call it DOPE?
* Cannabis Hemp: The Invisible Prohibition Revealed
* The Elkhorn Manifesto
* Marijuana and Hemp: The Untold Story
Urgent Warning About Industrial Hemp – 07/31/00
I recently returned from Washington, DC where I met with Congress members and government officials about industrial hemp. I learned that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will be publishing its new rules shortly in the Federal Register. This email is a warning to you in the industrial hemp industry, and I ask you to forward it to others who may be affected by these DEA regulations.
Representative Cynthia Thielen
DEA Permits Hawaii To Plant Industrial Hemp
December 13, 1999
Hawaii makes American history as the first industrial hemp seeds are planted in U.S. soil since the crop was banned after WWII. Hawaiian Governor Benjamin J. Cayetano will host the historical hemp seed planting ceremony at the Alterna Hemp Research Project agricultural plot in Whitmore Village on Oahu on Dec. 14, 1999, at 10 a.m. Hawaiian time.
Hawaii Begins Hemp Experiment
Surrounded by a 12-foot-high fence and infrared surveillance, a university scientist scattered the first seeds in an experiment that will test the viability of industrial hemp as an agricultural resource for the state.
Chasing Smoke – Hawaii’s 24 Year War on Pot
Liquor Control Board might be shut down if budget is not passed:
http://ofm.wa.gov/contingency/agency_planning.pdf
Might put the brakes on the legal Washington plan.
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So does that mean that the liquor will be out of control? [drum roll][rim shot]
But seriously, I seem to recall that it was going to be 2014 before they would get the first retailers open, and that’s assuming that the Feds don’t monkey wrench the process…hardly a remote possibility.
Law enforcement agencies should not be allowed to lobby for more power over the people who created them. I’d like to see someone in Congress pass a law that outright prohibits this.
Yeah, you’d think that someone would Hatch a law to keep that from happening.
You certainly would. Unfortunately, the Hatch Act doesn’t prohibit the DEA from lobbying Congress for greater power. Someone would have to come up with the stones to introduce one specifically aimed at armed agents seeking to increase their power over the population.
Update:
Bipartisan Hemp Amendment Passes House Over DEA Objections
http://t.co/GbwYqNh3RO
http://tinyurl.com/mkxk4s2
The bad news is the farm bill failed to pass
I’d like to know where the fed gov thinks it gets any legitimate Constitutional authority to make laws/regulations concerned with farming. I oppose subsidies to any sector of the economy or any business and I oppose central (nationwide) planning for any economic activity. Farmers were better off with planning their crops via granges.
You know, I have to say something here just as a heads up. The Congress is trying to militarize the Mexican border.
http://tinyurl.com/l29bft9
“The emerging deal called for a doubling of the Border Patrol, with 20,000 new agents, 18 new unmanned surveillance drones, 350 miles of new fencing, and an array of fixed and mobile devices to maintain vigilance.
“This is a border surge. We have militarized our border, almost,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.).
“Boots on the ground, drones in the air,” summed up Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D., N.Y.), who has been at the center of efforts to push immigration legislation through the Senate.
The plan was announced by Sens. John Hoeven of North Dakota and Bob Corker of Tennessee, Republicans who had been publicly uncommitted on the legislation. Both said other GOP fence-sitters would also swing behind the measure if the changes were incorporated, and by late in the afternoon, two had done so.
A final vote on the legislation is expected by the end of next week. ”
They want to hire enough immigration to be able to line em up across the border within eye sight of each other. I am very uncomfortable with this, and it has direct bearings on the war on drugs. Not good from my vantage point. The thought of it makes me want to avoid trips down south for a vacation. Too reminiscent of WWII stuff for me. This is crazy.
Yeah,,like what percentage of American workers work for the government now,,no wonder we can’t shut down prohibition,they are trying to make the majority of American’s job depend on it.
Considering how many pot raids have turned up tomatoes, it’s entirely possible that the DEA *is* too stupid to tell the difference. Which means they should be fired en masse.