DEA Blocks Spring Planting of Industrial Hemp in North Dakota

DEA Blocks Spring Planting of Industrial Hemp in North Dakota
North Dakota’s clearly frustrated Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson calls the federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) failure to act on two farmers’ applications to grow industrial hemp “not unexpected but still disappointing.” He said “DEA’s latest response is a de facto denial of permission. If the applicants cannot have a decision in time to plant the crop, then the applications are meaningless. . . DEA has far more important concerns – stopping methamphetamine, for example – than continuing to prevent farmers from growing a legitimate crop. Industrial hemp should not be considered a drug because it cannot produce any psychoactive effect. Every other industrialized country in the world allows production of industrialized hemp. It’s really time DEA let the United States catch up.”