Hemp movement news from Washington State: House Bill 1888

It is always welcome news when I can post an a new state taking on the hemp issue. So far Kentucky, Colorado, California, Oregon, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Dakota, South Dakota and North Carolina have all got some news items on this blog. Washington joins the frey, and I am hoping to start a New York initiative here, hopefully reps Jerrold Nadler who co-sponsored Ron Paul's bill and Carolyn Maloney

(NY's 8th and 12th districts) will support this. All 50 states could benefit, so let's see 40 more posts of this genre - and of course let's get lots more signatures on the petition to the White House at www.minawear.com/about-us/

 

 

 

 

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — A legislative committee has approved a bill that would allow Washington farmers to grow industrial hemp.

Washington officials are in the process of establishing a system to legalize the production and sale of marijuana for recreational use, following passage of Initiative 502 last fall. But that initiative didn't cover the production of hemp or hemp products.

House Bill 1888 would permit development of an industrial hemp industry in Washington. A House committee approved the bill Thursday, sending it to the full House for a vote.

Nine other states have passed laws allowing hemp production, but none grows hemp as a crop. The federal government still bans the plant.

Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Legislative-committee-approves-hemp-bill-4298715.php#ixzz2LaSgdjOo

Bob Newland's support of hemp in South Dakota

This in yesterday from Bob Newland of South Dakota:

 

 

Feb 1, 2013

Hello everyone:

Yesterday, Jan. 31, the Medical Necessity Act was heard in the So. Dak. House Health and Education Committee.

You can listen to the entire testimony on the Medical Necessity Act by clicking on the following link.
http://sdpb.sd.gov/SDPBPodcast/2013/hhe16.mp3 (You'll probably have to wait a few minutes for the stream to download.)

Testimony on HB 1227 (Medical Necessity Act) starts at about 2/3 of the way along the timeline provided by the slider on the media player, and lasts until the end of the recording.

Proponents of the bill who testified in the committee hearing were the prime sponsors, Rep. Dan Kaiser of Aberdeen SD, a city police officer, and Sen. Craig Tieszen, former police chief in Rapid City SD., and Emmett Reistroffer of SIoux Falls (So. Dak. Families First), Dr. Gus Hercules of Rapid City, and Bob Newland of Hermosa SD.

 

Testifying against the bill were the Director of the Division of Criminal Investigation, a spokesman for the Highway Patrol, a lobbyist for the Attorney General, a lobbyist for the So. Dak. States Attorneys, the States Attorney for Minnehaha County, the lobbyists for police chiefs and for the sheriffs' assn., and one other jerk.

Eight opponents, all scared to death that the nationwide trend toward decriminalization of cannabis will infect South Dakota.

In six legislative attempts to change cannabis laws in So. Dak., we have never seen more than three opponents testify in any hearing. Often there was only one, because the opponents knew that the committee would recognize that we reformists are crazy and they didn't need to waste their time refuting our testimony.

No finality was reached. The committee ran out of time, and committee discussion and a vote as to whether to let the bill go to the full House of Reps for a vote was postponed until Feb. 5.

Today, the Rapid City (SD) Journal published a story on the hearing. The headline is "Pot bill: Compassion or gateway legislation?"

The Journal story characterizes my testimony in one phrase: "Bob Newland of Hermosa described marijuana as 'a benign herb.'"

That pretty well exemplifies Richard Cowan's (former director of NORML National) statement that the reason we are still fighting the war on some drugs is "bad journalism."

I'll close with the text of the testimony I presented.

I'm Bob Newland. I live near Hermosa SD.

No one hearing my voice today believes what is codified in South Dakota and federal law, that there is "no medical use" for cannabis. To believe that in light of the evidence available is akin to the mindset that placed Galileo under house arrest for 40 years for saying that the Earth revolved around the sun.

In the course of my advocacy for saner drug laws during the last 20 years, I have become acquainted with dozens of people in south Dakota whose lives have been miserably affected by the attacks of horrible symptoms like those described by the two proponents whose testimony I just read. A huge and growing body of medical evidence supports that testimony.

HB 1227 is not a pro-pot bill. It is a justice bill. It is a bill that will give people who use cannabis to treat their misery the right to argue in court that they are violating the law because they are preventing a greater harm.

Prevention of a greater harm is an established principle of common law and is allowed as a defense in any criminal case in South Dakota, except for cases of possession or ingestion of cannabis.

South Dakota law says that the destruction of a human life by consequences of accidents and diseases is a lesser harm than the alleviation of miserable symptoms by use of a benign herb.

South Dakota provides for an argument of self-defense if I kill someone or beat someone up or if I borrow a car without permission to drive someone, or myself, to a hospital. But it denies me an argument of self-defense if I use cannabis to prolong or sustain my own life against the attacks of vicious diseases. A crime for which no victim is apparent.

There can only be one reason to sustain this injustice. That will be that the So. Dak. legislature does not trust its police, prosecutors, judges and juries to view and assess the credibility of evidence presented by people whose lives are being destroyed by forces they can only fight with the use of this marvelous herb. Yet these same authorities are charged with the responsibility of assessing the credibility of evidence in other cases every day.

Please stand up for justice. Vote to pass 1227 on to the House floor.

So, now we have to see what happens Tuesday.

Best regards,

Bob

Clinton welcomes news of Mitch McConnell backing hemp

Here is an article by Jason Hibbs of WPSD about a small town in Kentucky that is welcoming the news about the most powerful senator in the nation, their very own Mitch McConnell, supporting hemp. This news is going somewhat viral at the moment, it has of course hit the Huffington Post where the uber liberals are reviling POTUS over the fact that this issue is being championed by the likes of Dr Ron Paul, Senator Rand Paul, North Dakota State House Majority Leader Dave Monson, and now Mitch McConnell - all of whom are GOP derechistas.
FRANKFORT, Ky. (1/31/13) – Today, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell issued a statement of support for Agriculture Commissioner James Comer and the effort to re-introduce industrial hemp into Kentucky agriculture. Leader McConnell’s office issued the following statement:
POTUS will be seeing the petition from Mina Hegaard of Texas, who was in Dr Ron Paul's district until this year - go there, whether you are GOP derechist, left winger or just a sensible person doing the right, I mean, correct thing - www.minawear.com/about-us/



CLINTON, Ky. - The growing debate over hemp legalization just got an endorsement from a very powerful ally.

Thursday, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell jumped on board saying he supports re-introducing industrial hemp into Kentucky agriculture. A handful of lawmakers from both parties are backing a bill that would make Kentucky one of the first states to grow hemp.
One leader in the City of Clinton, wants his town to cash in on this form of cannabis before anyone else. He created a resolution to make it official that the City of Clinton supports the "alternative crop." At last month's commission meeting, leaders postponed the decision. On Monday, however, they'll likely take a stand on an issue that makes local law enforcement and neighbors nervous.

When people in Clinton hear the word "hemp," marijuana comes to mind. It even looks like weed, which is what worries Hickman County Sheriff Mark Green.

"If it looks like marijuana, how are we going to be able to tell the difference, I don't know if we can," Green said.

Clinton commissioner Ivan Potter started the discussion with a resolution. A statement that Potter says could turn Clinton into a thriving town.

"It would be a cash crop, number one, but it would also mean jobs for our people here who don't have jobs," Potter said.

Potter said hemp would breath life into old buildings like a former shoe plant that, at one time, employed more than 300 people.

But Sheriff Green worries legalizing hemp would make fighting the war on drugs even harder.

"Until they can prove to me it's not going to hurt law enforcement, I'm not going to back it," Green said.

Potter said harvesting hemp won't hurt anything. In fact, he says it's exactly what Clinton needs.

"It's gotten a bad wrap, let's just say it's cousin marijuana is a bad, bad boy, hemp is not like that," Potter said.

The Kentucky Department of Agriculture, which supports industrial hemp, said you cannot get high from industrial hemp and that the product is basically free of T.H.C., the intoxicating chemical found in marijuana.
Hemp can be used to manufacture fuel, clothing, paper, cosmetics, and other products.
The Kentucky Department of Agriculture says hemp is a nightmare for marijuana because it cross pollinates and actually destroys marijuana plants in the vicinity. Also hemp plants are much taller than marijuana plants.
Clinton commissioners will vote on the resolution Monday.

Appeal for supporty from NORML in South Dakota

Just in from NORML South Dakota:

 

 

 

Hello Everyone;

We can't MAKE you care…

…but we think you MIGHT care, and then do something to help, if we can make ourselves heard above everything else that wants your attention today.

The issue is tough. We want to change a South Dakota law because it's the right thing to do. It's passage probably won't mean more than a few hundred dollars one way or another to taxpayers. Laws rarely get passed just because it is the right thing to do.

Politicians get laws passed by claiming their passage is the right thing to do. What they usually mean is that passage of this law will point money in the direction of somebody the politician wants or "needs" to help.

Another thing that makes it tough is that its passage will probably benefit only a couple of dozen people a year.

Potential use of the Medical Necessity Act is limited to about 2800 people who will be convicted of cannabis possession or possession of paraphernalia in South Dakota in 2013.

We don't know how many of that 2800 will be able to present evidence that they use cannabis medically. We don't know how many will want to go to the trouble, if they can just pay a few hundred dollars, take a plea, and get on with life. We don't know how many cases would simply disappear if the potential to use medical necessity is there.

We would be surprised to see more than, say, three dozen cases among that 2800 where a "medical necessity defense" is contested by the state throughout a prosecution, to the point of trial. Presenting plausible evidence in a trial is both expensive and chancy. 2760 of those 2800 convictions will be obtained by trial or plea bargain. Nothing will have been changed by the Medical Necessity Defense for them.

So, we're guessing that about 36 people out of 8000 total possession arrests in 2013 in South Dakota will have evidence that they want to take to trial that they use cannabis as a medical necessity.

That's not a very large constituency. Even if some of these people would suffer significantly if they were unable to use cannabis, all a politician can say about this bill is, "It's the right thing to do." There is no lobbyist telling any South Dakota politician that passage of the Medical Necessity Defense will result in some campaign funding and that it will provide jobs or revenue.

Yet, Rep. Kaiser and Sen. Tieszen are willing to sponsor this bill. You can help. You can thank them for their willingness to stand up for what's right.

You can send a message to your legislators (most of you have three). You can do this by following directions at http://sodaknorml.org/2013necessityact.htm#legemail (read the left column when you get there).

You can ask your acquaintances who use cannabis medically to get hold of us. You can let us know of medical professionals in So. Dak. who agree with us. You need to do this in the next few days.

It will be a shame if we miss this chance to alleviate fear of punishment for those cannabis patients who have the misfortune of being arrested.

Best regards,

Bob Newland for SoDakNORML

HEMP HOE DOWN

Rapid City event promoter Jeremy Briggs announced the scheduling of “Hemp Hoe Down 10” today.
The event will be held, as it has for eight of its past nine years, at the Elkview Campground, north at I-90, Exit 37, east of Sturgis. Its dates are Thursday through Saturday, May 13-15.
Briggs says, “For the tenth straight year the Hemp Hoe Down has been the only hemp advocacy gathering in South Dakota. I think that’s an odd thing to be able to say in a state that could profit enormously from the addition of hemp to the choices farmers have in choosing marketable crops.”
According to Briggs, the Hemp Hoe Down typically features workshops or seminars in “sustainable” or “green” lifestyle and product choices. “But of course,” he says, “we also have offered, and will continue to offer a lineup of musical performers unchallenged for quality in South Dakota by anything aside from some Sturgis Rally venues.”
The schedule for the concerts is:
Thursday, May 15
Dylan James (Folk Grass, Spearfish SD) 6-7pm
Dylan will also cover band changeovers at at 9pm and Midnite
Mad Hats (Bumping' Hard Rock, Rapid City SD) 7-9pm
Von Veeder Veld (Hard Rocking' Fusion, Rapid City SD) 9-Midnite Solution (Jam Jazz, Sioux Falls SD) Midnite-2am
Friday, May 14
Crazy Mountain Billies (Blue Grass, Rapid City SD) 5-6:30pm
Carolyn Nicely (Mellifluous Singer, Los Angeles CA) 6:30-7:30pm
Carolyn will also cover band changeovers at 9:30pm and 11:30pm
Letta People (Bluesy Funk-Hop Rock, Rapid City SD) 7:30-9:30pm
Elephant Revival (Olde Time Blue Grass Harmony, Nederland CO) 9:30-11:30pm
Solution, 11:30pm-2am

Saturday, May 15
Jolly Llamas (Grass Folk, Rapid City SD) 4-6pm
Dan Sherrill (Wyoming Reggae, Wheatland WY) 6-7pm
Dan will also cover band changeovers at 9pm and 11pm
Violent Hippie (Soulful Punk Rock, Spearfish SD) 7-9pm
Elephant Revival, 9-11pm
Lunar Funk Theory (Rocking Reggae Funk, Sioux Falls SD)
11pm-2am
Thur-Sat
DJ Manatea (Ragga Jungle Electronic, Casper WY)
2nd Stage ~ All Weekend Long
OTHER EVENTS TO BE ANNOUNCED
at www.HempHoeDown.com

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS DESTROY WAY OF LIFE

In Europe there is hue and cry over illegal immigrants, and not without reason. The rape and murder of the wife of an Italian Naval Captain turned tide, and even the most left wing sentiment was not enough to stay the deporation of hordes of Roma Gypsies from the land. The EU was told to keep out of national debate.

In the US immigrants have gone so far as to push the indigenous people off the land. In South Dakota they are wishing they had a better immigration policy back in the 1520s. Last month they won a round against some of the immigrants, who presumptuously set up a company called "Native American Energy Group." The native Americans won a judgment in court on 29 Oct. calling for the NAEG to remove itself from the Pine Ridge reservation. What was it NAEG wanted to do? Mine uranium, so that fools could build nuclear power stations and then sell the waste off to the military at great profit. Chief Judge Lisa Adams, herself of immigrant stock, ruled aganst such folly. Plaintiffs Owe Aku and the Black Hills Sioux Nation Treaty are now watching as NAEG decamps. End of this month they need to be out.

These same natives have also been resisting moves by the immigrants to keep them from growing hemp. They made a film titled "Standing Silent Nation" which talks about their plight. Linked to this is a site by the same name, click here to view.

SUNSET ON THE RESERVATION

In 1971, Elton John sang "Indian Sunset", the ink still wet on the page after he and Taupin wrote it in Las Vegas. It is to this day one of the most poignant songs in rock, and has been recycled by Eminnem with some posthumous rap by Tupac Shukar.

In any version it makes one think about the genocide that took place in America, where the indigenous people now live in 'reservations' and are second-class citizens. If they don't like it, the KKK asserts, they can go back where they came from. OK. Good idea.

Where they came from, man was able to grow hemp, as has been shown by early historians. But now they are not allowed to do so, even though the Chief Big Whiteman himself, George Washington, did so. In April of 2000, Alex White Plume of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota planted industrial hemp, only to have some angry white men with guns chop it down. Shown above are the remaining stalks and Alex walking along the trail. PBS will broadcast a documentary on this on Tuesday, July 3, at 10 pm (check local time) in the US. For an article by Suree Towfighnia and Courtney Hermann click here.