ND Department of Agriculture Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE JUNE 22, 2005

NORTH DAKOTANS BACK INDUSTRIAL HEMP AS CROP FOR STATE

BISMARCK -- Newly introduced federal legislation could make North Dakota a leader again in the production of industrial hemp, says Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson.

“Industrial hemp is used in a tremendous variety of products, including food products, soap, cosmetics, fertilizer, textiles, paper, paints and plastics,” Johnson said. “Once the crop is legalized in this country, I believe science will find even more uses for industrial hemp, uses that will make industrial hemp a popular and profitable crop.”

Johnson spoke Wednesday, at a reception in Washington, DC, following the introduction of the Industrial Hemp Farming Act in the U.S. House of Representatives. The measure, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-TX, would allow states to regulate industrial hemp farming.

“Congressman Paul’s bill would allow North Dakota to put state laws that are already on the books into effect,” Johnson said. “Our state is poised to begin full-scale hemp research and production efforts as soon as the federal restrictions are lifted.”

North Dakota State Rep. David Monson, R-Osnabrock, who successfully sponsored several bills in the North Dakota Legislature, regulating the production and research of industrial hemp, also spoke at the gathering.

“Industrial hemp production is on hold in North Dakota and the entire U.S., due to roadblocks in Washington D.C.,” Monson said. “We have had tremendous bipartisan support for legislation we’ve introduced in North Dakota. This support has been from all levels, including Gov. Hoeven and Gov. Schafer, Agriculture Commissioner Johnson, Attorney General Stenehjem, state legislators and from farmers and citizens at the grass roots level.”

Monson said North Dakota is “way ahead of most states on this issue. It frustrates me when friends in Manitoba can raise industrial hemp and we can’t.”

Johnson noted that hemp production in North Dakota was actually sponsored by the federal government.
“During World War II, North Dakota had substantial acreage in hemp production in USDA’s ‘Hemp for Victory’ campaign,” he said. “Unfortunately, hemp farming was outlawed after the war, and for many years, the plant was listed as a noxious weed in the state.”

Johnson said the fact that the plant continues to thrive as a weed means it will almost certainly thrive as a cultivated crop in North Dakota.

“Just this year, the Legislature passed Rep. Monson’s bill authorizing North Dakota State University to collect feral hemp seed stock and develop appropriate strains of industrial hemp,” Johnson said. “The new law also authorized my office to monitor the seed collection and to certify appropriate stocks for licensed commercial cultivation.”

Johnson said a number of other states have plans for hemp production, and that the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) supports the rewriting of federal rules and regulations to allow commercial production of industrial hemp.

“NASDA urges the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Office of National Drug Control Policy to develop an official definition of industrial hemp that conforms to the definition used in other countries,” he said. “We also urge Congress to statutorily distinguish industrial hemp from marijuana. That is exactly what this bill would do.”

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