Pubdate: Wed,  6 Sep 2000
Source: Austin American-Statesman (TX)
Copyright: 2000 Austin American-Statesman
Contact:  P. O. Box 670 Austin, Texas 78767
Fax: 512-445-3679
Website: http://www.austin360.com/statesman/editions/today/
Bookmark: additional articles on hemp are available at 
http://www.mapinc.org/hemp.htm

NADER CRITICIZES HEMP RESTRICTIONS

Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader on Tuesday joined people who 
want to grow and market industrial hemp in criticizing federal agencies for 
making it hard for farmers to grow the crop.

Nader also spoke out against a recent raid on a South Dakota Indian 
reservation in which federal agents seized at least 2,000 plants described 
as industrial-grade hemp plants by the crop's owner.

Hemp cannot be grown commercially in the United States because it belongs 
to the same family as marijuana, although Nader pointed out that the levels 
of hallucinogenic THC are far lower in hemp than in marijuana. "It is 
analogous to consuming poppy seed bagels or nonalcoholic beer," he said. 
"Although these foods both have a small psychoactive component, people do 
not abuse them."
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MAP posted-by: Thunder