KY Farmers sue U.S. for right to grow industrial hemp
On Friday, May 15th, 1998 a group of Kentucky farmers filed a federal lawsuit against the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and the US Department of Justice in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. The lawsuit seek a series of declaratory judgements that would define the rights and obligations of Kentucky farmers seeking to produce industrial hemp.The plaintiffs base their suit on three principle grounds:
1.) Congress never intended to prohibit the legitimate production of industrial hemp and that therefore the defendants interpretation and enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to prohibit industrial hemp, violates the separation of powers.
2.) Because Congress has never preempted the regulation of industrial hemp, its production should be left to individual States and citizens, and States may enact legislation regarding the production of industrial without violating federal law.
3. Hemp and marijuana are botanically and legally distinct products of the cannabis plant and should be treated differently.
The plantiffs in the case are small family farmers, principally tobacco growers, who are facing hard economic times and who would like to have the opportunity to explore industrial hemp for rural economic development. They are joined by the Kentucky Hemp Growers Cooperative Company of America which can guarantee a market for these farmers crop. Represented by leading New York attorney Michael Kennedy, the plaintiffs say that the only thing preventing them from farming industrial hemp is the fear that the federal government will charge them with growing marijuana and seize their farms.
The armer-plaintiffs, citing an uncertain market and increasingly restrictive regulations, see industrial hemp, which was grown and marketed in Kentucky from colonial times through the 1930s, as a viable alternative. (A 1942 film produced by the department of defense, "Hemp for Victory, "praised Kentucky's illustrious history of successful industrial hemp farming and encouraged Kentucky farmers to grow hundreds of acres of industrial hemp as a crop "vital" to the war effort.)
Grown by historic figures including George Washington and thomas Jefferson, industrial hemp is renowned as a multi-purpose and versatile plant. Its seed can be converted into food, oil, animal feed, and cosmetics. The fiber can be utilized as textile, rope, carpets, paper products and construction materials. It is considered an environmentally rotational crop that is disease and pest-resistant. Remarkably, industrial hemp is one of the few crops that can be grown in all 50 states.
In this landmark lawsuit attorney Michael Kennedy describes the legislative histroy of the marijuana laws, first formulated in 1937 when the Marijuana Tax Act was passed. The complaint details how Congress specifically distinguished industrial hemp from marijuana.
The suit details the botanical and legal differences between industrial hemp and marijuana pointing to distinctions noted by the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Cnservation Services. The case also points out that under the international NAFTA and GATT agreement industrial hemp is recognized as a valid agricultural crop around the world.
The DEA argues that removing industrial hemp from regulatory control would enable marijuana growers to camouflage their product. However, contrary to their assertions, industrial hemp has been scientifically demonstrated to cross-pollinate with marijuana, diminishing its quality. In any event, industrial hemp has a minimal THC content, the pyscho-active ingredient in marijuana.joe hickey
Executive Director, KY Hemp Growers Co-op
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