Portland NORML Weekly News Release (January 30, 1997)

NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR THE REFORM OF MARIJUANA LAWS
	
1001 CONNECTICUT AVENUE NW
SUITE 1010-C
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20036

T 202-483-5500 o F 202-483-0057
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Internet http://www.norml.org

. . . a weekly service for the media on news items related to Marijuana
Prohibition.

January 30, 1997


New England Journal Of Medicine Argues For Medical Marijuana Proposed NORML
Bill Echoes Medical Journal's Sentiments

January 30, 1997, Boston, Massachusetts: Federal policy that prohibits
physicians from prescribing marijuana for seriously ill patients is
"misguided, heavy-handed, and inhumane," according to the new issue of the
New England Journal of Medicine, the country's most prestigious medical journal.

Calling the administration's position "hypocritical," magazine editor Dr.
Jerome P. Kassirer argued that: "Federal authorities should rescind their
prohibition of the medicinal use of marijuana for seriously ill patients and
allow physicians to decide which patients to treat. The government should
change marijuana's status from that of a Schedule 1 drug (considered to be
potentially addictive and with no current medical use) to that of a Schedule
2 drug (potentially addictive but with some accepted medical use) and
regulate it accordingly."

Kassirer's recommendation echoes the text of a proposed new federal bill by
Congressman Barney Frank (D-Mass). Frank, a longtime proponent of medical
marijuana, has been working with NORML to craft a streamlined medical
marijuana bill that will reschedule marijuana under federal law, thereby
making it legal to prescribe. Once states are free of the federal law
prohibiting the prescription of marijuana, they can legally implement
different systems for growing and distributing medical marijuana to patients
on a state-by-state basis. The passage of this legislation would also remove
the threat of prosecution in the eight states that already allow doctors to
prescribe marijuana.

"Both historically and presently, states have been more receptive to the
medical marijuana issue than the federal government," explained NORML's
Executive Director, R. Keith Stroup, Esq., who noted that 25 states and the
District of Columbia currently have laws recognizing marijuana's medical
utility. "Therefore, NORML proposes a bill that effectively gets the federal
government out of the way of those states that wish to make marijuana legal
as a medicine." Stroup said that he expects Rep. Frank to introduce the
federal medical marijuana bill as soon as next month and considered today's
editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine to be a major blow to the
administration's current position.

"A lead editorial in favor of allowing patients legal access to medical
marijuana by the editor of one of the most prestigious medical journals in
the world gives additional legitimacy to this issue, and conversely, further
damages the credibility of the federal government's position," he said.

A commentary written by Harvard Medical Professor and NORML Board Member
Lester Grinspoon in the June 21, 1995, edition of the Journal of the
American Medical Association (JAMA) stated: "It is time for physicians to
acknowledge more openly that the present classification is scientifically,
legally, and morally wrong." A lead editorial published later that year in
the highly respected British medical journal, The Lancet, added: "The
smoking of cannabis, even long term, is not harmful to health."

"Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey is out of his league when he attacks medical
marijuana," said Bill Zimmerman, director of Americans for Medical Rights,
one of the organizations that spearheaded the successful medical marijuana
campaign in California. "He has ridiculed this issue as a 'Cheech and Chong
show.' In truth, it is a matter of real concern to medical professionals.
McCaffrey has made a bad policy worse, and is now facing the consequences in
the form of a rebellion by the medical community."

"Congress can no longer ignore the issue of medical marijuana," summarized
Stroup. "The passage of state initiatives supporting its medical use in
California and Arizona brought this issue to the political forefront. We
expect the introduction of Rep. Barney Frank's legislation and the
high-profile hearings that follow to keep it there."

For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre or Paul Armentano of
NORML @ (202) 483-5500. NORML's report summarizing the various state medical
marijuana laws is available upon request.

[Portland NORML notes: The complete text of the NEJM editorial is posted
below, as well as at http://www.pdxnorml.org/NEJM_Foolishness_013097.html.]



Federal Study Concludes That Marijuana's Main Active Ingredient Does Not
Cause Cancer

January 30, 1997, Boston Massachusetts: The main active ingredient in
marijuana (THC) did not cause cancer when fed to laboratory animals in huge
doses over long periods, according to a federal study recently publicized by
The Boston Globe. The $2 million dollar study had been left on the shelf for
over two years.

"This study's findings undercuts the federal government's contention that
marijuana itself is carcinogenic," said NORML's Deputy Director Allen St.
Pierre. "It is ridiculous that such a report has failed to see the light of
day until now."

According to The Boston Globe, the 126-page draft study has never been
published, though a panel of expert reviewers found in June 1994 that its
scientific methods and conclusions were sound. "We found absolutely no
evidence of cancer," John Butcher, director of the National Toxicology
Program, told The Globe in reference to the study. Surprisingly, Butcher
said that THC may even have protected against malignancies.

In the study, high doses of THC were delivered directly into the stomachs of
mice and rats daily for two years. Since the animals were not exposed to
marijuana smoke, the study did not address the carcinogenic potential of
inhaled marijuana.

Butcher told The Boston Globe that his agency had not been pressured to bury
the report, and said the delay was due to a personnel shortage.

For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre of NORML @ (202)
483-5500 or Attorney Steve Epstein of Mass/CANN NORML @ (617) 599-3161.

[Portland NORML notes: The complete text of the Boston Globe report is
posted at http://www.pdxnorml.org/Globe_mj_cancer_013097.html.]



Medical Marijuana Legislation Hot Topic For State Legislators

January 30, 1997, Washington, D.C.: Following the passage of Proposition 215
in California and an Arizona provision recognizing marijuana's medical
value, several state legislators have expressed interest in passing similar
medical marijuana measures in their states. In Wyoming, legislation to
reschedule marijuana to allow for physicians to prescribe it for medical
purposes (S.F. 132) was heard today before the Labor, House and Social
Services Committee. Similar legislation has also been introduced in Hawaii
(H.B. 604) by Rep. David Tarnas (6th District), and a law providing for a
prima facie defense for patients who are certified by the state to use
marijuana to treat glaucoma, asthma, or the nausea associated with
chemotherapy (H. 2170) took effect in Massachusetts last week.

Other states that have shown interest in introducing medical marijuana
legislation include New Jersey, Wisconsin, New York, and Maine. NORML is
currently sending comprehensive medical marijuana info-packets to
legislators in these states and has offered to help identify physicians,
medical marijuana experts, and patients who could testify at hearings in
support of marijuana's therapeutic value. "Legal access to medical marijuana
is a topic on the minds of many state legislatures this year," said NORML's
Deputy Director Allen St. Pierre. "NORML and its local affiliates stand
ready and willing to work with interested legislators on the state level in
the months ahead."

An unfortunate backlash to the recent national publicity regarding medical
marijuana has been the response of some legislators to introduce measures
repealing existing state medical marijuana laws. On January 8, Virginia
Delegate Robert Marshall (R-Manassas) introduced legislation repealing an
18-year old law allowing physicians to prescribe marijuana to seriously ill
patients (H.B. 1621). The bill passed in the House by an 86-13 vote today
and is being referred to a Senate committee. Although Virginia's law does
not provide legal access to the drug, the state's recognition of marijuana's
therapeutic value does help patients defend against marijuana possession
charges. Meanwhile, Ohio Sen. Louis Blessing (R-Cincinnati) has introduced
legislation to pull the plug on a six-month old law granting medical
marijuana users an affirmative defense against marijuana possession charges.
Currently, Ohio NORML activists are mobilizing against this legislation.

For more information on pending state medical marijuana legislation, please
contact either Allen St. Pierre or Paul Armentano of NORML @ (202) 483-5500.

				-END-

MORE THAN 10 MILLION MARIJUANA ARRESTS SINCE 1965 . . . ANOTHER EVERY 54
SECONDS!

			(Regional and other news)

* Body Count

Four of the seven felons sentenced by Multnomah County courts in the most
recent week received jail or prison terms for controlled-substance offenses,
according to the "Portland" zoned section of 'The Oregonian' (Jan. 30, 1997,
p. 5, 3M-MP-SE). That makes the body count so far this year 11 out of 27, or
40.74 percent. (The final tally for 1996 was 370 out of 675, or 54.81 percent.)



* Portland NORML Activists Lobby Against New Jails

Portland NORML Director T.D. Miller and a few other local chapter members
have been attending a series of public forums where city and county
residents can lobby each other and local officials about where to make
budget cuts necessitated by passage of Measure 47, the
property-tax-limitation initiative. (The meeting times and places were
listed in the Jan. 16 Portland NORML Weekly News Release item, "Portland
Public Hearings Let You Speak Against Busting Pot Offenders.")

One chapter member writes:

"I was at a public meeting the other night with Terry Miller and watched as
a bunch of randomly-formed citizen committees showed significant support for
not building the new jails that were approved by the voters in May of 1996
here in Multnomah County. Several tables (committees), after a period of
discussion about how to cut the city and county budgets to accommodate the
recently-approved property tax "cut-and-cap" initiative, specifically
mentioned not building the new jail. I noticed the sheriff (jail
administrator), Dan Noelle, standing in the back of the room with looks of
pain every time a committee made the recommendation that the jail not be
built because the funds required for its operation were not available [i.e.
why build a jail and let it stand empty???]. He was obviously perturbed at
the end of the meeting when approximately one-third of the tables suggested
major changes to his plan for a new jail and its operation under his command."

No decisions will be announced by city and county officials until about June.

However, as reported in "Jail site may end up standing empty" ('The
Oregonian,' Jan. 23, 1997, p. C4), "...even though voters approved bond
money for the jail, the county still must make a decision on whether to
build it. That topic is scheduled to be discussed Feb. 25 in a meeting
between the county Board of Commissioners and Sheriff Dan Noelle."

As critics noted before the May 21 jail-bond vote, even if the county builds
the jails, it never had a realistic or adequate plan to fund their operating
costs. Remember to write or fax your county commissioner about that before
Feb. 25.

City:

Mayor Vera Katz
Portland Building, Room 501
1400 SW Fifth Ave.
Portland, OR 97204
Tel. (503) 823-4120
Fax: (503) 823-3588
E-mail: VeraKatz@aol.com
or mayorkatz@ci.portland.or.us
Web page: http://205.206.211.91/mayors/mportlnd.htm

Commissioner Jim Francesconi
Portland Building, Room 703
1400 SW Fifth Ave.
Portland OR 97204
Tel. (503) 823-3008
Fax: (503) 823-3017
E-mail: jfrancesconi@ci.portland.or.us

Commissioner Charlie Hales
Portland Building, Room 701
1400 SW Fifth Ave.
Portland, OR 97204
Tel. (503) 823-4681
Fax (503) 823-4040
E-mail: hales@europa.com
Web page: http://www.europa.com/~hales/

Commissioner Gretchen Kafoury
Portland Building, Room 704
1400 SW Fifth Ave.
Portland, OR 97204
Tel. (503) 823-4151
Fax (503) 823-3036
E-mail: gkafoury@ci.portland.or.us

Commissioner Erik Sten
Portland Building, Room 702
1400 SW Fifth Ave.
Portland, OR 97204
Tel. (503) 823-3589
Fax: (503) 823-3696
E-mail: Esten@ci.portland.or.us

County:

Beverly Stein
Multnomah County Commissioners Chair
Portland Building
Room 1515
1120 SW Fifth Ave.
Portland, OR 97204
Tel. (503) 248-3308
Fax: (503) 248-3093
E-mail: mult.chair@co.multnomah.or.us
Web page: http://www.multnomah.lib.or.us/cc/bev/
Elected at large.

Dan Saltzman
District 1
Multnomah County Commissioner
Portland Building
Room 1500
1120 SW Fifth Ave.
Portland, OR 97204
Tel. (503) 248-5220
Fax: (503) 248-5440
E-mail: Dan.S.SALTZMAN@co.multnomah.or.us

Gary Hansen
District 2
Multnomah County Commissioner
Portland Building
Room 1500
1120 SW Fifth Ave.
Portland, OR 97204
Tel. (503) 248-5219
Fax: (503) 248-5262
E-mail: gdhansen@teleport.com
Web page: http://www.multnomah.lib.or.us/cc/ds2/

Tanya Collier
District 3
Multnomah County Commissioner
Portland Building
Room 1500
1120 SW Fifth Ave.
Portland, OR 97204
Tel. (503) 248-5217
Fax: (503) 248-5262
E-mail: tanya.d.collier@co.multnomah.or.us
Web page: http://www.multnomah.lib.or.us/cc/ds3/

Sharron Kelley
District 4
Multnomah County Commissioner
Portland Building
Room 1500
1120 SW Fifth Ave.
Portland, OR 97204
Tel. (503) 248-5213
Fax: (503) 248-5262
E-mail: sharron.e.KELLEY@co.multnomah.or.us
Web page: http://www.multnomah.lib.or.us/cc/ds4/



* 'Federal Foolishness and Marijuana' ('New England Journal Of Medicine'
Editorial)

(Dr. Kassirer is editor-in-chief.)

New England Journal of Medicine
January 30, 1997, Vol. 336, no. 5, pp. 366-367

Editorials

Federal Foolishness and Marijuana

The advanced stages of many illnesses and their treatments are often
accompanied by intractable nausea, vomiting, or pain. Thousands of patients
with cancer, AIDS, and other diseases report they have obtained striking
relief from these devastating symptoms by smoking marijuana.[1] The
alleviation of distress can be so striking that some patients and their
families have been willing to risk a jail term to obtain or grow the marijuana.

Despite the desperation of these patients, within weeks after voters in
Arizona and California approved propositions allowing physicians in their
states to prescribe marijuana for medical indications, federal officials,
including the President, the secretary of Health and Human Services, and the
attorney general sprang into action. At a news conference, Secretary Donna
E. Shalala gave an organ recital of the parts of the body that she asserted
could be harmed by marijuana and warned of the evils of its spreading use.
Attorney General Janet Reno announced that physicians in any state who
prescribed the drug could lose the privilege of writing prescriptions, be
excluded from Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, and even be prosecuted
for a federal crime. General Barry R. McCaffrey, director of the Office of
National Drug Control Policy, reiterated his agency's position that
marijuana is a dangerous drug and implied that voters in Arizona and
California had been duped into voting for these propositions. He indicated
that it is always possible to study the effects of any drug, including
marijuana, but that the use of marijuana by seriously ill patients would
require, at the least, scientifically valid research.

I believe that a federal policy that prohibits physicians from alleviating
suffering by prescribing marijuana for seriously ill patients is misguided,
heavy-handed, and inhumane. Marijuana may have long-term adverse effects and
its use may presage serious addictions, but neither long-term side effects
nor addiction is a relevant issue in such patients. It is also hypocritical
to forbid physicians to prescribe marijuana while permitting them to use
morphine and meperidine to relieve extreme dyspnea and pain. With both these
drugs the difference between the dose that relieves symptoms and the dose
that hastens death is very narrow; by contrast, there is no risk of death
from smoking marijuana. To demand evidence of therapeutic efficacy is
equally hypocritical. The noxious sensations that patients experience are
extremely difficult to quantity in controlled experiments. What really
counts for a therapy with this kind of safety margin is whether a seriously
ill patient feels relief as a result of the intervention, not whether a
controlled trial "proves" its efficacy.

Paradoxically, dronabinol, a drug that contains one of the active
ingredients in marijuana (tetra-hydrocannabinol), has been available by
prescription for more than a decade. But it is difficult to titrate the
therapeutic dose of this drug, and it is not widely prescribed. By contrast,
smoking marijuana produces a rapid increase in the blood level of the active
ingredients and is thus more likely to be therapeutic. Needless to say, new
drugs such as those that inhibit the nausea associated with chemotherapy may
well be more beneficial than smoking marijuana, but their comparative
efficacy has never been studied.

Whatever their reasons, federal officials are out of step with the public.
Dozens of states have passed laws that ease restrictions on the prescribing
of marijuana by physicians, and polls consistently show that the public
favors the use of marijuana for such purposes.[1] Federal authorities should
rescind their prohibition of the medicinal use of marijuana for seriously
ill patients and allow physicians to decide which patients to treat. The
government should change marijuana's status from that of a Schedule 1 drug
(considered to be potentially addictive and with no current medical use) to
that of a Schedule 2 drug (potentially addictive but with some accept ed
medical use) and regulate it accordingly. To ensure its proper distribution
and use, the government could declare itself the only agency sanctioned to
provide the marijuana. I believe that such a change in policy would have no
adverse effects. The argument that it would be a signal to the young that
"marijuana is OK" is, I believe, specious.

This proposal is not new. In 1986, after years of legal wrangling, the Drug
Enforcement Administration (DEA) held extensive hearings on the transfer of
marijuana to Schedule 2. In 1988, the DEA's own administrative-law judge
concluded, "It would be unreasonable, arbitrary, and capricious for DEA to
continue to stand between those sufferers and the benefits of this substance
in light of the evidence in this record." [1] Nonetheless, the DEA overruled
the judge's order to transfer marijuana to Schedule 2, and in 1992 it issued
a final rejection of all requests for reclassification. [2] Some physicians
will have the courage to challenge the continued proscription of marijuana
for the sick. Eventually, their actions will force the courts to adjudicate
between the rights of those at death's door and the absolute power of
bureaucrats whose decisions are based more on reflexive ideology and
political correctness than on compassion.

Jerome P. Kassirer, M.D.

References

1. Young FL. Opinion and recommended ruling, marijuana rescheduling
petition. Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration. Docket
86-22. Washington, D.C.: Drug Enforcement Administration, September 6, 1988.

2. Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration, Marijuana
scheduling petition: denial of petition: remand. (Docket No. 86-22.) Fed
Regist 1992;57(59):10489-508. Copyright 1997, Massachusetts Medical Society.




* 'Marijuana Study Called Unnecessary - Doctors Say Value Of Drug Has Been
Proved Many Times'

San Jose Mercury News, Jan. 30, 1997
by Donna Alvarado
Mercury News Staff Writer

SAN FRANCISCO - Doctors from the Bay Area to Boston on Wednesday blasted the
federal government's call for more study of marijuana's medical impact as a
waste of time, saying adequate proof already exists of the drug's benefit.

While San Francisco doctors held a news conference citing studies as far
back as 1976, the editor of the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine
roasted federal officials for blocking desperately ill patients' access to
marijuana for medical treatment.

"Thousands of patients with cancer, AIDS and other diseases report they have
obtained striking relief from these devastating symptoms by smoking
marijuana," wrote Dr. Jerome Kassirer editor of the Boston journal, in an
editorial in today's issue. "I believe that a federal policy that prohibits
physicians from alleviating suffering by prescribing marijuana for seriously
ill patients is misguided, heavyhanded and inhumane."

Plenty of evidence.

Kassirer said there is abundant evidence that marijuana is far safer and
less addicting than many other narcotics commonly prescribed by doctors. "It
is hypocritical to forbid physicians to prescribe marijuana while permitting
them to use morphine and (Demerol) to relieve extreme (nausea) and pain,"
Kassirer wrote.

The issue erupted after Californians voted in November to legalize marijuana
for medical use. I Federal officials warned afterward that such use was
still forbidden by federal law and told doctors they could lose their
licenses to prescribe drugs or suffer financial penalties if they recommend
marijuana to their patients.

Offering an olive branch this month, the White House drug policy director
announced $1 million funding for the Institute of Medicine to review studies
already done on the medical use of inhaled marijuana. But doctors meeting
Wednesday at the San Francisco Medical Society said such a review was
redundant and would stall any resolution of the controversy that has erupted.

Doctor speaks up

"The federal government's announced intent to undertake a million-dollar,
18-month review of existing knowledge is unnecessarily duplicative and
untimely," said Dr. Dexter Louie, president of the San Francisco Medical
Society, which had endorsed medical use of marijuana before the November
vote. "Many respected medical experts already feel that enough is known to
reclassify marijuana to allow physicians to prescribe it."

One critic of the drug policy contended at Wednesday's news conference that
dozens of studies have been done over the last two decades that show
evidence of marijuana's medical effectiveness. Kevin Zeese, president of a
Virginia-based organization called Common Sense for Drug Policy, cited several:

+ A 1979 study published in a well-known medical journal, The Annals of
Internal Medicine, that found marijuana reduced vomiting and nausea in
cancer patients by 72 percent.

+ A 1988 study published in the New York State Journal of Medicine that
reported a 78 percent improvement among cancer patients who inhaled
marijuana after failing to be helped by alternatives such as Marinol, a pill
containing a synthetic version of the active ingredient of marijuana.

+ A 1975 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine on
marijuana's active ingredient, called THC, that found some patients reported
"natural" marijuana helped them more than the synthetic, legal version.

Avoid abuse

The San Francisco doctors said they welcomed more research on marijuana's
medical impact and acknowledged its prescription should be regulated to
prevent its abuse.

"It is not a drug without harmful effects," said Dr. Laurens White, a cancer
specialist and former president of the California Medical Society.
"Teenagers get into trouble smoking it and do badly at school."

But if appropriate controls are placed on its prescription, he said, "I
don't think . . . it would destroy the moral fiber of America."

Kassirer predicted the argument will be settled ultimately by legal challenges.

"Some physicians will have the courage to challenge the continued
proscription of marijuana for the sick," he wrote. "Eventually, their
actions will force the courts to adjudicate between the rights of those at
death's door and the absolute power of bureaucrats whose decisions are based
more on reflexive ideology and political correctness than on compassion."



* 'Harvard Psychiatrist Quits To Protest Anti-Marijuana Lecturer'

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP, Jan. 30, 1997) - A psychiatrist who supports the
medical use of marijuana has resigned from a Harvard University-affiliated
center for addiction to protest a lecture by President Clinton's drug czar.

Dr. Lester Grinspoon said he doesn't begrudge retired Army Gen. Barry
McCaffrey the right to speak against the use of marijuana, but he objects to
McCaffrey saying that doctors who prescribe it could be prosecuted.

McCaffrey was invited to deliver the March 7 lecture on treatment for
addiction as part of a conference at the Harvard Medical School.

McCaffrey "has no scholarly accomplishments and is doing harm by insisting
that patients who need this medicine desperately should be subjected to
confiscation and arrest," Grinspoon said Thursday.

Grinspoon is editor of the Harvard Mental Health Letter and author of
"Marijuana: The Forbidden Medicine." He has resigned from his affiliation
with the Norman E. Zinberg Center for Addiction Studies at Cambridge
Hospital, but is still part of the Harvard faculty.

McCaffrey intends to deliver the lecture as planned, a spokesman said.

[Dr. Grinspoon is also the author of "Marihuana Reconsidered" (1971, revised
1977, Harvard University Press, ISBN 0-932551-13-0, available for $16.95
plus shipping from New Morning Books in Mt. Morris, IL (800) 851-7039),
which was originally inspired by his attempt to identify authoritatively the
harmful aspects of cannabis. After Dr. Grinspoon reviewed the evidence,
however, "Marihuana Reconsidered" ended up as a comprehensive examination of
the bad science that has inspired and perpetuated prohibition. It also
dispels common and uncommon misconceptions, for example, that the use of
marijuana is generally harmful to people with mental disorders. - ed.]



* 'Crime Bars 1 In 7 US Black Men From Voting'

WASHINGTON (Reuter, Jan. 30, 1997) - One of every seven black male Americans
is barred from voting because of a felony conviction, according to a study
issued Thursday by a non-profit criminal justice group.

The Sentencing Project, which advocates changes in incarceration policies,
estimated 1.46 million black men of a total voting age population of 10.4
million have lost the right to vote due to a conviction.

It said 510,000 black males were permanently barred from voting due to laws
in effect in 13 states while the remaining 950,0000 were ineligible to vote
due to laws in effect in 46 states on offenders in prison or on probation
and parole.

The study, which looked at racial disparity in sentencing, found that blacks
had been incarcerated at a rate 7.66 times that of whites, up slightly from
the level that prevailed in 1988.

It said the increase in the nation's prison population stemmed from longer
sentences for violent offenders and increased convictions and incarceration
for drug offenders.

Marc Mauer, the groups's assistant director, acknowledged the need for
imprisonment of those who posed a serious threat to the community, but also
recommended various alternatives.

He called for greater efforts to create jobs as one way to reduce violent
crime, to give judges more discretion at sentencing, especially for
low-level drug offenders, and to support community policy and crime
prevention programs.

[Felons are allowed to vote in Oregon once they are no longer incarcerated.
- ed.]



* 'Marijuana Gets OK As Medicine In Canada'

REGINA, Saskatchewan (UPI, Jan. 15, 1997) -- A motor-vehicle licensing body
says a Saskatchewan man who smokes marijuana as medicine for multiple
sclerosis poses no danger to the general public when he drives his car.

The ruling was considered a major victory by 42-year-old Grant Krieger who
is campaigning for the legalization of cannabis for medical use in Canada.

Darcy McKenzie of Saskatchewan Government Insurance says: "We're just
following the guidelines that the use of any drug for any medical purpose is
OK."

SGI is the agency that approves the province's driver's licenses.

Krieger says he provided the board with a prescription for the drug from a
physician in the Netherlands, and testified that he no longer gets impaired
when using marijuana, which he both smokes and ingests.

Canada's criminal code outlaws the possession of marijuana, but McKenzie
says the board followed "the guidelines set by the Canadian Medical
Association and the American Medical Association in concert with our
legislation in Saskatchewan."

He told United Press International: "There's not a lot of extensive research
in this issue, and let's be fair, doctors have prescribed ... the use of
cannabis in Canada for glaucoma."

McKenzie said he believes it is the first time the SGI medical review board
has dealt with the issue of the medical use of cannabis.

Says Krieger: "It was a just and well-thought decision."

Krieger sparked the review process when he admitted on a license application
last August that he uses marijuana to relieve muscle spasms and pain
associated with multiple sclerosis.


* An Interdiction Math Story Problem

Craig Schroer (ifcb456@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu) writes:

The following excerpt from a recent news story on coca eradication provided
the inspiration for a little math 'story problem.'

Both follow [slightly edited]:

Peru Seizes 170 Tons of Drugs in 1996

LIMA - (XINHUA via Individual Inc.) The Peruvian National Anti-Drug
--- cut ---
The Peruvian authorities destroyed 332 laboratories, wells and air strips,
eradicated 52,642 square meters of seedbeds and razed 17,084 square meters
of coca plants, the report said.
--- cut ---
Peru is believed to be the largest coca-producing country in the world, with
an estimated 108,600 hectares of coca plants in the Aguayta, Huallaga, Puno
and Cusco watersheds.

[End item]

After reading the previous news story, I realized that I didn't know the
dimensions of a "hectare." Here's what the dictionary said:

"Hectare - A unit of surface or land measure equal to 100 acres, or 10,000
square meters." Therefore:

108,600 hectares of coca plants = 108,600 x 10,000 square meters = Total:
1,086,000,000 square meters

52,642 square meters of seed beds + 17,084 square meters of coca plants
eradicated = 69,726 total square meters eradicated.

If I remember my math correctly, to find the percent which was eradicated we
would divide 69,726 by 1,086,000,000 = 6.4 E -5

Finally, shifting the decimal point five places to the right (E -5) and then
back to the left two places (to render a percentage) we arrive at .0064% of
the coca crop was eradicated in Peru last year.

I believe that one could also refer to this numeric relationship by saying
that slightly over six thousandths of one percent of the coca crop was
destroyed.

If I'm in error in my calculations, please let me know. Otherwise, I'm
thinking this might make good fodder for a letter to the editor.




* Compulsory Belief In 'Higher Power' Voided In New York

WASHINGTON (UPI, Jan. 6, 1997) -- The Supreme Court has let stand a lower
court ruling that says New York cannot compel prisoners to undergo 12-step
programs for alcohol or substance abuse.

The 12-step program, developed by Alcoholics Anonymous, relies heavily on
submission to God, and the lower court says the state's use of the program
is state support of religion.

A prisoner in New York's Shawangunk correctional facility, David Griffin,
wanted to participate in the state's family reunion program.

But because he had admitted to long-term heroin use in the 1950s and 1960s,
he was told that he would also have to participate in the prison
department's alcohol and substance abuse treatment program.

The abuse treatment program used the 12-step approach originated by AA.

Griffin went to court, saying he is not religious and that the requirement
violated his rights under the First Amendment.

Though the state won at lower levels, an appeals court eventually ruled the
requirement violated the Constitution.

New York asked the U.S. Supreme Court for review. The justices denied the
request without comment Monday.

(96-372, Commissioner Coughlin et al vs David Griffin)




* US News And World Report Gets Keen On Hemp

Don Wirtshafter (don@hempery.com) of the Ohio Hempery writes:

U.S. News and World Report will come out Monday with an article that really
shows how well we have done to make industrial hemp a legitimate article of
commerce. There is not a more staid conservative magazine published, but
their Business and Technology Section features a totally positive article on
our achievements. The article is accompanied by two illustrations, one a
makeup of clothing from the Ohio Hempery (http://www.hempery.com) and the
other that explains all of the uses of hemp.

"Hemp Is High Fashion -
(No Cheech, not that kind.) Hemp products are booming."

U.S. News and World Report, Jan. 20, 1997, page 55
Business and Technology

Weed Makes a Comeback.

All of the above clothing was made from Industrial Hemp. Its still illegal
to grow, but that could change.

You can't get high smoking jeans made from it. The oil tastes pretty good on
salads, but don't expect to get a buzz. You can make brownies with it, but
after eating a few, reggae music still sounds about the same.

No, this hemp is different. It's called industrial hemp, and though it looks
a lot like its leafy cousin, Cannabis sativa, or marijuana, it lacks the
same hallucinatory properties. Just as corn comes in different varieties -
sweet, short ear or animal feed - so too does hemp, which grows with various
amounts of THC (delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol), the psychoactive ingredient
in cannabis.

Industrial hemp is a tall, lanky, low-THC variety of marijuana, prized more
for its fibrous stalk and its oil-rich seeds than its smokability.

Hemp chic.

Cultivating industrial hemp in the United States has been illegal for more
than a quarter century because of fears that pot growers would raise their
crops alongside hemp, making the illegal weed harder to spot. Imports of
finished hemp products, however, are still allowed - and demand is soaring.
Fashion designers like Calvin Klein and Giorgio Armani are adding hemp
clothing and bed linens to their lines. Adidas sold 30,000 pairs of athletic
shoes made partly from hemp last year. Hemp retail stores are sprouting up
all across the country, hawking everything from hemp shampoos and soaps to
jeans and salad oil. Some estimates put worldwide trade in hemp products as
$100 million last year, a figure that experts say could double or even
triple in the next few years.

All in all, it is quite a comeback for this fibrous plant with a history.
Hemp had been an agricultural staple in America for hundreds of years,
providing rope for sailing ships, canvas for covered wagons and lamp oil for
colonial farms, But it became a victim of technological advances in the 19th
century: The cotton gin made cotton fabric cheaper; the slave labor needed
to process hemp disappeared, and fossil fuels replaced hemp oil for light
and heat. The coup de grace came this century, when hemp all but disappeared
from world markets as most industrialized countries sought to stamp out drug
abuse.

It's easy to understand the renewed interest in hemp today. The plant is one
of nature's finest renewable fiber sources, producing four times as much
pulp per acre as trees. As demand for fiberboard, packing material and paper
products increases, hemp may be an alternative to buying up expensive forest
land and clear-cutting trees for wood pulp. Curtis Koster, International
Paper Co.'s technology business manager, notes that as a source of fiber,
hemp is the stronger and easiest to grow, with the broadest geographical range.

It also is environmentally correct. As hemp activists point out, it can be
grown without the pesticides and irrigation needed to raise a cotton crop.
For that reason , hemp clothing has become a status symbol for the
ecofriendly, even though some of the material feels like burlap and call to
mind peasant wear on a Communist Chinese collective. Hemp clothing is no
bargain either: A shirt might set you back $60, a pair of jeans $80.

The high cost stems from a shortage of hemp fabric on the world market.
About a dozen countries, including China, Russia and several Eastern
European nations, grow hemp legally. But hemp clothing makers often have to
go to great lengths to line up suppliers. Chris Boucher, president of
Hempstead Co., a California import and manufacturing firm that sold $1.5
million worth of hemp products last year, says he must deposit money in the
Bank of China, which holds the cash for 60 days before he receives a
delivery. "The textile business people laugh at us because so one in his
right mind would pay up front and in cash for jeans material," he says.

Few doubt that legalizing hemp cultivation in the United States makes good
commercial sense. But the politics are tricky. This year, as many as 10
states may introduce bills to legalize growing hemp with less than 3 percent
THC content. But few expect any to pass. Besides, with marijuana use
increasing among teenagers, states that passed a legal-hemp initiative would
likely face the wrath of federal authorities. (The Clinton administration
says it will prosecute Arizona and California doctors who prescribe
marijuana for medicinal purposes, even though voters in those states
approved initiatives making it legal for them to do so.)

But hemp activists may have a trump card. Leaders of the Navajo Nation are
considering cultivating as many as 40,000 acres of hemp this spring as part
of an economic-development project that will employ 70 people in a
particleboard mill near the aptly named Arizona city of Sawmill.

Open Door?

Although growing plants containing THC is illegal under current Navajo law,
the tribal council might amend the law to make cultivating plants with less
than 3 percent THC legal. The Navajos also are considering using hemp fiber
to make rugs and pressing hemp seeds for oil. Proponents believe that the
tribe's sovereign status could make it immune from current U.S. drug laws.
"We are only interested in the commercial and industrial applications," says
Jim Robinson, director of the Navajo Hemp Project.

If the hemp project is allowed to go ahead, federal Drug Enforcement
Administration officials worry, hemp-activist farmers in Kentucky, Iowa and
Colorado will quickly increase their demands to grow hemp, too. That could
open the door for marijuana cultivation throughout the country, the DEA
fears. Officially , however, the agency is adopting a wait-and-see attitude.
But clearly it would prefer that the Navajos just say no.

By Dan McGraw



* 'Harrelson, Hemp Win Round In Court - Law's Definition Called Too Broad'

'Lexington Herald-Leader,' (Lexington, KY), Jan. 24, 1997, p. 1
By Andy Mead
Herald-Leader Staff Writer

In the Commonwealth vs. Woody Harrrelson, the actor scored an important
victory yesterday.

An Eastern Kentucky judge presiding over a case involving Harrelson ruled
that a portion of a state law that lumps industrial hemp with marijuana is
unconstitutional.

The ruling could be the first step toward making hemp a legitimate crop for
farmers, an idea endorsed by the Kentucky Farm Bureau and others, but
opposed by law enforcement.

But the prosecutor in the case could still be tried and convicted.

Harrelson, who stars in The People vs. Larry Flynt, was in Lexington in May
for an international conference on industrial hemp and made a side trip to
Lee County to plant what he said were four hemp seeds.

The planting was a calculated challenge to the state law that makes no
distinction between marijuana and hemp.

Industrial hemp is a cousin of marijuana that has little of the chemical
that produces a high in users. Industrial hemp has .3 percent or less of
tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the psychoactive ingredient that produces a
high. Potent marijuana can have 10 percent or more THC.

In the ruling filed yesterday, Lee District Judge Ralph McClanahan II said
there should be a distinction between parts of the plant that have THC and
parts that don't. The definition of marijuana under which Harrelson was
charged "is constitutionally defective due to its overbroad application by
including non-hallucinogenic plant parts," the judge said.

"There's a judge with vision," Harrelson said yesterday in a telephone
interview from Los Angeles. "I couldn't be happier. This is a great day."

But Lee County Attorney Tom Jones said he intends to appeal McClanahan's
ruling to Lee Circuit Court and continue with Harrelson's prosecution. If
convicted, the actor faces up to a year in jail and a $500 fine.

Jones said his reading of the judge's ruling is that seeds with any THC are
illegal, and that Harrelson has admitted under oath that the seeds he
planted had a small amount. Experts say that no hemp seeds are devoid of THC.

An appeal had been expected no matter which side prevailed in the
constitutional question.

Charles Beale, one of Harrelson's Lexington attorneys, said the case
probably will go at least to the Kentucky Court of Appeals. At that level, a
ruling has statewide impact.

Hemp's supporters tout the plant as a source of everything from paper to
fabric to lip balm and say it could help Kentucky's beleaguered tobacco
farmers. Environmentalists like it because it doesn't need herbicides or
pesticides and can save trees.

But police say it would just cause marijuana enforcement problems.

At a hearing in the Harrelson case, Kentucky State Police Sgt. James A.
Tipton, a member of the Governor's Marijuana Strike Force, testified that if
hemp were legal, farmers in a financial bind might try to sneak a few
marijuana plants among the hemp stalks.

Hemp advocates say that would be unlikely because the plants are cultivated
quite differently and because the hemp would lower the THC content of the
marijuana, making it less valuable.

Sidebar

A royal condemnation of marijuana

How much does Lee District Judge Ralph McClanahan II dislike marijuana?

Almost exactly as much as King James I disliked tobacco.

In declaring unconstitutional part of a state law that equates industrial
hemp with marijuana yesterday, the judge wanted to make it clear that he was
in no way endorsing marijuana.

To help do so, he lifted some of the words penned by the English king in his
1604 "Counterblaste to Tobacco."

Here's how the king described smoking tobacco 393 years ago:

"A custom loathsome to the eye, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the
lungs, and in the black stinking fume thereof, nearest resembling the
horrible Stygian smoke of the pit that is bottomless."

Here's how the judge described marijuana yesterday:

"The use of the hallucinogenic properties of marijuana is an act loathsome
to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the
lungs, and in the stinking fumes thereof leads to the pit that has no bottom
by the association of the consumer to the source of such controlled substance."

The judge said through a spokesman yesterday that it would be improper for
him to discuss any aspect of his decision because the case still is pending.

The king is most often associated with another widely quoted work, the King
James Version of the Bible.



* 'Pro-Hemp Forces Win Early Round As Judge Throws Out State Law'

'The Courier-Journal' (Louisville, KY), Jan. 24, 1997, "Kenucky" section
By Allen G. Breed
Associated Press

A district court ruling that called a state law outlawing marijuana
unconstitutionally vague and overly broad was a small victory for actor and
hemp-activist Woody Harrelson.

Lee District Judge Ralph McClanahan II ruled yesterday that state law don't
differentiate between hemp and marijuana, hemp's psychoactive cousin. The
ruling is law only in that Eastern Kentucky county, but Harrelson said it's
a start.

"I definitely see it as a victory," he said in a telephone interview from
Los Angeles. "We'll start with the county, and it'll spread to the state.
There's no question it's a happy day for all of us in the hemp movement."

Harrleson was arrested June 1 after planting four industrial hemp seeds on a
small plot of land he bought for the purpose. The actor, partner in a
California company that makes clothes and other products from imported hemp,
was charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana and faced 12 months in
jail.

McClanahan didn't let Harrelson completely off the hook. He said a trial
must be held on whether the seeds were capable of producing plants that
contain THC.

Harrelson argued that hemp would be a viable alternative for Kentucky
farmers facing hard times with proposed restrictions on tobacco and would be
better than cutting down trees for paper. Prosecutors said legalizing
industrial hemp would worsen problems involving psychoactive varieties of
the plant.

McClanahan sympathized with law enforcement but said the state went about
things the wrong way.

"The use of the hallucinogenic properties of marijuana is an act loathsome
to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the
lungs and in the stinking fumes thereof leads to the pit that has no
bottom," McClanahan wrote. He said regulating the drug is a legitimate concern.

"Unfortunately, the Commonwealth has impermissibly regulated an otherwise
legal substance to reach this end," he wrote.

Federal bans are aimed at plant parts that contain psychoactive THC, the
judge said, not parts useful in making fiber and other products. He noted
the state changed its legal definition of marijuana in 1992 from the federal
one without explaining why.

Hemp was widely used during World War II in the manufacture of rope, cloth,
paper, oils, cosmetics and other products, and Kentucky once led the nation
in hemp production. The plant is legally grown in Europe, Canada and China.

Lee County Attorney Tom Jones, who prosecuted the case, said he intends to
appeal, even though it means setting the stage for a statewide precedent.

"If I don't take it up, then they'll do it in another county," he said. "And
we have about as strong a case as we could put on ... so we might as well
meet the enemy head on and conquer them here."

Harrelson said he will take the case as far as necessary.

Defense lawyer Burl McCoy of Lexington said the ruling already has precedent
value.

"What would happen is the next person who is charged in Lee County or Pike
County will pull this judgment out", he said. "And then it would be up to
the judge to decide what he wanted to do."

But farmers shouldn't go out and start planting hemp seeds, said Andy
Graves, president of the Kentucky Hemp Growers Cooperative.

"I think that the federal government is the ultimate power here through the
DEA," he said. "And when we have the OKs from those folks, then I believe
that I will encourage farmers to step up to the field and start growing."

				[End quote]

[For information on hemp in Kentucky contact:]

Kentucky Hemp Growers Cooperative Association
P.O. Box 8395
Lexington, KY 40533
Tel. (606) 252-8954



* Bank Of Montreal Sponsors Vancouver Hemp Show February 17-18

'The Vancouver Sun,' Jan. 28, 1997, p. B1

A staid bank and a plant beloved by potheads entwined in a
non-hallucinogenic trade show

By: Ian Mulgrew

The times are certainly a changin' when the Bank of Montreal is
sponsoring a "pot" conference.

Oh, the pin-striped money merchants call it "industrial hemp," but
as the poets say, a rose is a rose is a rose, and cannabis is, well,
cannabis.

At the Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre on Feb. 17 and 18,
hundreds of farmers, manufacturers, academics and researchers will
gather from around the globe to discuss reviving Canada's long-dead
hemp industry.

They'll fly in on Canadian International Airlines, another conference
supporter, not a cloud of pungent, hallucinogenic smoke.

There will be a trade show featuring hemp products, discussion panels
about the need to address shrinking world wood-fibre resources and
papers on where government regulators stand.

"We expect about 400 to 500 farmers, forest industry types,
government people and producers at the symposium," said Sotos
Petrides, president of Wiseman Noble Sales & Marketing, the local
event and publishing firm that is co-sponsoring the show.

"We expect about 1,200 at the trade show but they will be more
buyers, entrepreneurs and investors."

Petrides noted that hemp grown for industrial use is related to the
recreational marijuana favored by drug connoisseurs.

Industrial hemp, however, contains much less of the psychotropic
chemical THC.

"We are not going to be addressing any of the recreational or
medicinal issues surrounding its sister plant," he said.

"We are focusing solely on industrial hemp and the desire to legalize
its production again, particularly to address the looming shortage of
wood fibre."

Growing hemp has been illegal in Canada since 1938.

Since 1994, farmers and researchers have planted hemp across Canada
under experimental licenses from Health Canada to determine its
agronomic characteristics, yields, processing requirements and
potential products.

They have been trying to determine which strains of the
much-denigrated weed can be grown where and what it can be turned
into.

And the effort is part of a growing international movement.

In England, for instance, one farmer last year grew more than 1,600
hectares for use in textiles and livestock bedding. In the
Netherlands, researchers are creating the world's largest hemp
seedbank. In Poland, they are using hemp in construction materials and
hemp-wool blends.

"This plant can be grown, processed in our own factories, products
can be manufactured in our own country and sold to the world in an
environmentally friendly way," Petrides said.

"Instead of relying on resources that are exported, this is a
renewable, sustainable crop that can create jobs at every level."

As for the bank, well, it may be using Bob Dylan's songs in its
advertising, but you won't even get a smile with a counter-cultural
nudge-nudge, wink-wink about the hemp conference.

"We recognize the value of this potential emerging market which will
support Canadian agriculture and farmers," said Peter Brown, the
bank's agricultural manager.

"The interest in reintroducing this crop has been gaining momentum
for the past few years."

HEMP HAS MANY USES

- In previous centuries, hemp was widely cultivated for use in the
manufacturing of paper, sails, rope and textiles.

- But demand declined with the advent of the Industrial Revolution,
the end of the age of sail and the plentiful supply of cheap lumber
from North America.

- In this century, growing concern in western nations about drug abuse
led to hemp farming being outlawed in North America in the 1930s.

- Today, the world's leading producers of industrial cannabis are
India, Romania, China, Hungary, Poland and Turkey.



* Colorado Alternative Fiber Crop Development Act of 1997 (HB 1274)

Text of the bill introduced Jan. 30, 1997 and sponsored by:
Representative Kay Alexander
State Capitol Building
200 E. Colfax Ave.
Denver, CO 80203
Phone: (303) 866-2955
Fax: (303) 866-2291

Capital letters indicate new material to be added to existing statute.
Dashes through the words indicate deletions from existing statute.

First Regular Session

Sixty-first General Assembly

LLS NO. 97­0430.01 PLC HOUSE BILL 97­1274

STATE OF COLORADO

BY REPRESENTATIVE K. Alexander;

also SENATOR Matsunaka.

AGRICULTURE, LIVESTOCK & NATURAL RESOURCES

A BILL FOR AN ACT

CONCERNING THE INTRODUCTION OF ALTERNATIVE FIBER CROPS IN COLORADO.

Bill Summary

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced and does not
necessarily reflect any amendments which may be subsequently
adopted.)

Authorizes Colorado state university, in cooperation with the
commissioner of agriculture, to grow test plots of industrial hemp,
sunnhemp, and kenaf in order to research their use as alternative
fiber crops.

Creates the Colorado alternative fiber crop committee to investigate
the potential of industrial hemp, sunnhemp, and kenaf for use as an
alternative fiber crop. Requires the committee to make recommendations
to the commissioner based upon its investigation.

Allows the committee to solicit gifts, grants, and donations to fund
the research.

Requires the commissioner and Colorado state university to report and
make recommendations to the general assembly concerning both the
agronomic study performed by Colorado state university and the
investigation performed by the Colorado alternative fiber crop
committee.

Specifies that these studies do not affect the strict control of
marijuana in this state.

Repeals the article on July 1, 2000.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado:

SECTION 1. Title 35, Colorado Revised Statutes, 1995 Repl. Vol., as
amended, is amended BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW ARTICLE to read:

ARTICLE 27.7

Alternative Fiber Crop Development Act

35­27.7­101. Short title. THIS ARTICLE SHALL BE KNOWN AND MAY BE CITED AS
THE "ALTERNATIVE FIBER CROP DEVELOPMENT ACT".

35­27.7­102. Legislative declaration. THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY HEREBY FIND,
DETERMINES, AND DECLARES THAT COLORADO FARMERS AND RANCHERS NEED ALTERNATIVE
FIBER CROPS IN ORDER TO SURVIVE. CROPS SUCH AS INDUSTRIAL HEMP, KENAF, AND
SUNNHEMP ARE PROMISING FIBER, SEED, AND OIL CROPS. THESE CROPS CAN HELP
REVITALIZE COLORADO'S FARM ECONOMY BY SPAWNING THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW
VALUE­ADDED INDUSTRIES IN RURAL AREAS. THERE IS A WORLD­WIDE SHORTAGE OF
FIBER AND A HIGH DEMAND FOR NON­WOOD FIBER PRODUCTS. IT IS IN THE BEST
INTEREST OF THE STATE ECONOMY TO PURSUE RESEARCH INTO THE VIABILITY AND
MARKETS FOR THESE CROPS TO BENEFIT COLORADO FARMERS AND RANCHERS. THE
GENERAL ASSEMBLY FURTHER FINDS THAT RESEARCH CONCERNING THE AGRONOMIC
CHARACTERISTICS OF THESE FIBER CROPS, RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE REGULATION OF
FUTURE COMMERCIAL FIBER CROP PRODUCTION, AND INVESTIGATION OF MARKETS FOR
FIBER CROPS IS NECESSARY FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE CITIZENS OF COLORADO.

35­27.7­103. Definitions. AS USED IN THIS ARTICLE, UNLESS THE CONTEXT
OTHERWISE REQUIRES:

(1) "COMMISSIONER" MEANS THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE.

(2) "COMMITTEE" MEANS THE COLORADO ALTERNATIVE FIBER CROP COMMITTEE CREATED
PURSUANT TO SECTION 35­27.7­105.

(3) "INDUSTRIAL HEMP" MEANS ALL PARTS AND VARIETIES OF THE PLANT CANNABIS
SATIVA, WHETHER GROWING OR NOT, CULTIVATED EXCLUSIVELY FOR INDUSTRIAL
PURPOSES THAT MEET THE CRITERIA ESTABLISHED BY THE COMMISSIONER BY RULE
PURSUANT TO SECTION 35­27.7­104 (4). "INDUSTRIAL HEMP" IS NOT PSYCHOACTIVE
AND IS SEPARATE AND DISTINCT FROM MARIHUANA OR MARIJUANA.

(4) "INDUSTRIAL HEMP PRODUCTS" MEANS ALL PRODUCTS MADE FROM INDUSTRIAL
HEMP, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO CLOTH, CORDAGE, FIBER, FOOD, FUEL, PAINT,
PAPER, PARTICLE BOARD, PLASTICS, STERILIZED SEED, SEED MEAL, SEED OIL, AND
VIABLE SEED FOR INDUSTRIAL HEMP CULTIVATION IF SUCH SEEDS ARE OBTAINED
THROUGH THE COMMISSIONER BY RULE PURSUANT TO SECTION 35­27.7­104 (4).

(5) "KENAF" MEANS THE PLANT HYBISCUS CANNABINUS.

(6) "MARIHUANA" OR "MARIJUANA" MEANS ALL PARTS OF THE PLANT CANNABIS
SATIVA, WHETHER GROWING OR NOT, THE RESIN EXTRACTED FROM ANY PART OF THE
PLANT, EVERY COMPOUND MANUFACTURE, SALT, DERIVATIVE, MIXTURE, OR PREPARATION
OF THE PLANT, ITS SEEDS OR RESINS, IF NOT OBTAINED FROM THE COMMISSIONER AS
PERMITTED BY RULE PURSUANT TO SECTION 35­27.7­104 (4). "MARIHUANA" OR
"MARIJUANA" DOES NOT INCLUDE INDUSTRIAL HEMP OR INDUSTRIAL HEMP PRODUCTS.

(7) "MARIHUANA CONCENTRATE" MEANS HASHISH, TETRAHYDROCANNABINOLS, OR ANY
ALKALOID, SALT, DERIVATIVE, PREPARATION, COMPOUND, OR MIXTURE, WHETHER
NATURAL OR SYNTHESIZED OF TETRAHYDROCANNABINOLS. "MARIHUANA CONCENTRATE"
DOES NOT INCLUDE INDUSTRIAL HEMP OR INDUSTRIAL HEMP PRODUCTS.

(8) "TETRAHYDROCANNABINOLS" OR "THC" MEANS THE SAME AS THE DEFINITION SET
FORTH IN SECTION 12­22­303 (32), C.R.S.

(9) "SUNNHEMP" MEANS THE PLANT CROTALARIA JUNCEA.

35­27.7­104. Colorado state university ­ agronomic research ­ reports ­
commissioner of agriculture authority. (1) NOTWITHSTANDING ANY PROVISION OF
LAW TO THE CONTRARY, COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY IS AUTHORIZED TO UNDERTAKE
AND SUPERVISE AGRONOMIC RESEARCH INTO INDUSTRIAL HEMP, SUNNHEMP, AND KENAF
FOR THEIR USE AS ALTERNATIVE FIBER CROPS. COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY MAY
COLLABORATE WITH OTHER RESEARCH UNIVERSITIES IN CONDUCTING THIS RESEARCH.
THE COMMISSIONER SHALL OVERSEE THE RESEARCH BY COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY.
SUCH RESEARCH SHALL BE MUTUALLY AGREED UPON BY THE COMMISSIONER AND COLORADO
STATE UNIVERSITY AND SHALL INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:

(a) TWO TEST PLOTS OF NO MORE THAN FIVE ACRES EACH OF INDUSTRIAL HEMP,
SUNNHEMP, AND KENAF CULTIVATED WITH DIFFERENT IRRIGATION, ELEVATION, AND
SOIL CONDITIONS. THESE TEST PLOTS ARE TO BE ESTABLISHED IN THE 1998 GROWING
SEASON.

(b) FOUR TEST PLOTS OF NO MORE THAN TEN ACRES EACH CULTIVATED WITH
DIFFERENT IRRIGATION, ELEVATION, AND SOIL CONDITIONS. THESE TEST PLOTS ARE
TO BE ESTABLISHED FOR THE 1999 GROWING SEASON.

(2) THE COMMISSIONER AND COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY SHALL ISSUE JOINT
REPORTS TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY CONCERNING THE FINDINGS OF THE AGRONOMIC
RESEARCH. THE FIRST REPORT SHALL BE MADE BY JANUARY 15, 1999. THE FINAL
REPORT SHALL BE MADE BY DECEMBER 15, 1999. THE REPORTS SHALL CONTAIN:

(a) RESULTS OF THE AGRONOMIC RESEARCH, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
DIFFERENTIAL FIBER YIELDS AND AGRONOMIC VIABILITY OF INDUSTRIAL HEMP,
SUNNHEMP, AND KENAF, WATER USE PER YIELD PRODUCTION FUNCTIONS, TIMING OF
WATER STRESS EFFECTS ON PRODUCTIVITY, OPTIMUM PLANTING DATES AND
POPULATIONS, FERTILITY REQUIREMENTS, INSECT AND PATHOGEN PROBLEMS, WEED
CONTROL, AFTER­HARVEST RESIDUE CHARACTERISTICS AND SOIL EROSION POTENTIAL,
GROWTH RATES AS INFLUENCED BY ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS, AND OPTIMUM HARVEST
TIMING AND METHODS;

(b) RESULTS OF THE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF THE INDUSTRIAL HEMP PLANTS,
INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THC AND CANNABIDIOL CONCENTRATIONS OBTAINED
FROM THE TEST PLOTS AND THE METHODS USED TO SAMPLE THE INDUSTRIAL HEMP CROP; AND

(3) THE FINAL REPORT SHALL INCLUDE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LEGISLATION TO
DEFINE INDUSTRIAL HEMP AS DISTINCT FROM MARIHUANA OR MARIHUANA CONCENTRATE,
REGULATIONS, IF ANY, THAT MAY BE NECESSARY FOR THE COMMERCIAL INDUSTRIAL
HEMP AND ALTERNATIVE FIBER CROP INDUSTRY, AND THE RECOMMENDATIONS MADE BY
THE COLORADO ALTERNATIVE FIBER CROP COMMITTEE PURSUANT TO SECTION
35­27.7­105 (4) (b).

(4) THE COMMISSIONER IS AUTHORIZED TO PROMULGATE THE RULES NECESSARY TO
IMPLEMENT THIS SECTION IN ACCORDANCE WITH ARTICLE 4 OF TITLE 24, C.R.S. SUCH
RULES SHALL INCLUDE AT A MINIMUM:

(a) CRITERIA FOR INDUSTRIAL HEMP PARTS AND VARIETIES TO BE USED IN TEST PLOTS;

(b) CRITERIA FOR VIABLE INDUSTRIAL HEMP SEEDS TO BE USED IN TEST PLOTS.

35­27.7­105. Colorado alternative fiber crop committee ­ mission ­
appointments ­ report. (1) THE COLORADO ALTERNATIVE FIBER CROP COMMITTEE IS
HEREBY CREATED AND SHALL BE COMPOSED OF NINE MEMBERS WHO SHALL BE APPOINTED
BY THE COMMISSIONER FOR A TERM OF TWO YEARS. THE MEMBERS SHALL INCLUDE THE
FOLLOWING REPRESENTATION:

(a) ONE MEMBER SHALL BE A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE COLORADO DEPARTMENT OF
AGRICULTURE;

(b) ONE MEMBER SHALL BE A REPRESENTATIVE FROM COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY'S
DEPARTMENT OF SOIL AND CROP SCIENCE;

(c) THREE MEMBERS SHALL HAVE A MINIMUM OF FIVE YEARS EXPERIENCE IN COLORADO
AS A COMMERCIAL FARMER OR RANCHER AND BE FAMILIAR WITH INDUSTRIAL HEMP,
SUNNHEMP, OR KENAF;

(d) ONE MEMBER SHALL HAVE A MINIMUM OF FIVE YEARS PUBLIC ADVOCACY OF
INDUSTRIAL HEMP AND COMMERCIAL INDUSTRIAL HEMP PRODUCTS;

(e) ONE MEMBER SHALL BE A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE COLORADO STATE PATROL;

(f) ONE MEMBER SHALL BE A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE COUNTY SHERIFFS OF
COLORADO; AND

(g) ONE MEMBER SHALL BE A PERSON THAT THE COMMISSIONER BELIEVES WILL BEST
REPRESENT THE STATE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF ALTERNATIVE CROP FIBERS SUCH AS
INDUSTRIAL HEMP, SUNNHEMP, AND KENAF.

(2) THE COLORADO ALTERNATIVE FIBER CROP COMMITTEE SHALL RESEARCH INDUSTRIAL
HEMP REGULATION POLICIES IN OTHER AREAS, INCLUDING COUNTRIES OTHER THAN THE
UNITED STATES, AND MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE COMMISSIONER FOR SIMILAR
POLICIES IN COLORADO. THE COMMITTEE MAY RECOMMEND LEGISLATION TO ALLOW
PERMANENT COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION OF INDUSTRIAL HEMP, SUNNHEMP, AND KENAF. THE
RECOMMENDATIONS SHALL ENSURE THAT FARMERS AND RANCHERS WILL BE ABLE TO
PRODUCE THESE ALTERNATIVE FIBER CROPS, SPECIFICALLY INDUSTRIAL HEMP, SAFELY
AND PROFITABLY. THE COMMITTEE SHALL INVESTIGATE EXISTING AND POTENTIAL
MARKETS FOR INDUSTRIAL HEMP, BOTH IN COLORADO AND ELSEWHERE. THE
COMMISSIONER SHALL INCLUDE THE FINAL RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE IN THE
FINAL REPORT TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY PURSUANT TO SECTION 35­27.7­104 (3).

(3) THE COMMITTEE IS AUTHORIZED TO FUND THIS RESEARCH FROM GIFTS, GRANTS,
AND DONATIONS FROM INDIVIDUALS, PRIVATE ORGANIZATIONS, FOUNDATIONS, OR ANY
GOVERNMENTAL UNIT; EXCEPT THAT NO GIFT, GRANT, OR DONATION MAY BE ACCEPTED
BY THE COMMITTEE IF IT IS SUBJECT TO CONDITIONS WHICH ARE INCONSISTENT WITH
THIS ARTICLE OR ANY OTHER LAWS OF THIS STATE. THE COMMITTEE SHALL HAVE THE
POWER TO DIRECT THE DISPOSITION OF ANY SUCH GIFT, GRANT, OR DONATION FOR THE
PURPOSES OF THIS ARTICLE.

(4) (a) THE COMMITTEE SHALL ISSUE A PRELIMINARY REPORT TO THE COMMISSIONER
CONCERNING THE STATUS OF ITS RECOMMENDATIONS, AND THE METHODS OF
INVESTIGATION USED, BY NOVEMBER 15, 1997. THE COMMISSIONER SHALL REVIEW THE
REPORT AND MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE COMMITTEE CONCERNING THE SCOPE AND
CONTENTS OF ITS FINAL REPORT.

(b) THE COMMITTEE SHALL ISSUE ITS FINAL REPORT TO THE COMMISSIONER BY
DECEMBER 15, 1999. THE REPORT SHALL INCLUDE, BUT SHALL NOT BE LIMITED TO,
POLICIES FOR LICENSING OR REGISTERING FARMERS TO GROW INDUSTRIAL HEMP,
METHODS FOR INSPECTION OF FIELDS, RECORD KEEPING, PENALTIES, POTENTIAL
PROBLEM ISSUES, AND WHETHER THE COMMITTEE SHOULD CONTINUE ITS INVESTIGATION.

35­27.7­106. Controlled substance laws relating to marihuana. EXCEPT AS
SPECIFIED OTHERWISE BY THIS ARTICLE, ALL LAWS CONCERNING THE STRICT CONTROL
OF MARIHUANA AND MARIHUANA CONCENTRATE AS A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE SHALL
REMAIN IN EFFECT.

35­27.7­107. Repeal of article. THIS ARTICLE IS REPEALED, JULY 1, 2000.

SECTION 2. Safety clause. The general assembly hereby finds, determines,
and declares that this act is necessary for the immediate preservation of
the public peace, health, and safety.


				[End]

Please send comments or corrections to:

Phil Smith
samizdat@pdxnorml.org
Assistant Director
Portland chapter, National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws
(Portland NORML) volunteer, Drug Reform Coordination Network (DRCNet)
P.O. Box 9192
Portland, OR 97207

Past news releases and megabytes of other information on cannabis and drug
policy are posted in Portland NORML's World Wide Web pages at
http://www.pdxnorml.org/

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http://www.druglibrary.org

This URL: http://www.pdxnorml.org/013097.txt