Two farmers from North Dakota who filed a lawsuit against the DEA over a year ago will be arguing their case in less than two weeks. What the farmers are taking issue with is a US District Court ruling that hemp and marijuana are the same plant. As the press release explains:
ST. PAUL, Minn., Oct. 30 — Two North Dakota farmers, who filed a lawsuit in June of 2007 to end the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) ban on commercial hemp farming in the U.S., will be back in court on Wednesday, November 12, 2008 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Oral arguments before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit begin at 9:00 am CST in the Warren E. Burger Federal Building & U.S. Courthouse at 316 North Robert Street in St. Paul and will immediately be followed by a press conference on the courthouse steps.
The farmers, North Dakota State Rep. David Monson and Wayne Hauge, are appealing a decision by the U.S. District Court, District of North Dakota on a number of grounds; in particular, the District Court ruled that hemp and marijuana are the same, as the DEA has wrongly contended.
It will be interesting to see how this case plays out. The two plants are obviously not the same. In fact, under this logic, poppy seeds should be illegal. For those who want more background info on this case, VoteHemp.com has a page all about the North Dakota Case.
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