Pubdate: Sun, 01 May 2005
Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel (CA)
Copyright: 2005 Santa Cruz Sentinel
Contact:  http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/394
Author: Tom Ragan, Sentinel Staff Writer
Cited: Drug Policy Alliance http://www.drugpolicy.org/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Mark+Leno
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hemp.htm (Hemp)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?330 (Hemp - Outside U.S.)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California)

DEMYSTIFYING CONTROVERSY SURROUNDING PLANT

Berry Grower Wants U.S. Farmers to Reap Benefits of Hemp's Value

WATSONVILLE -- George Washington grew it. And so did Thomas Jefferson.

It's hemp, and now Watsonville organic strawberry farmer Vanessa Bogenholm 
would like to grow it as a profitable cover crop when her berries are not 
in season -- and she took her case to Sacramento on Wednesday.

She tried to convince the Assembly's Agriculture Committee that nothing but 
fear and a lack of education stand behind the legalization of this 
controversial, yet misunderstood plant.

"People get this myth in their minds that (hemp is) dangerous or it's a 
drug, and that's what they run with -- even if it couldn't be furthest from 
the truth," said the 39-year-old Bogenholm.

Unlike its genetic cousin marijuana, hemp, which is grown for its seeds and 
fibers, contains only minuscule amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, an 
ingredient that creates a sense of euphoria when smoked.

Yet hemp, while it is legally sold in the United States, cannot be grown 
here. Bogenholm's contention is if hemp is already being imported to the 
United States by Canadian farmers and they're making the money, why can't 
she and other U.S. farmers grow it for economic benefit.

The demand is there, and it's been there for decades. People make clothes 
and rope out of hemp. The oil, extracted from its seeds, has become very 
popular, and the sweet seeds themselves can be found in a few energy bars 
around town, Bogenholm said.

Bogenholm said Republicans in committee last week seemed accepting of her 
idea, with the exception of Nicole Parra, a Republican assemblywoman who 
represents the 30th District in Bakersfield -- an agriculturally heavy area 
akin to the Pajaro Valley.

Mary Gutierrez, Parra's spokeswoman, said in a telephone interview on 
Friday: "We just think that it would be sending the wrong message to 
children. Although we recognize that hemp is not marijuana, there are a lot 
of people who don't make that connection, and we think it's better to just 
leave this issue alone and move on to issues that are more important."

Don't try telling Bogenholm and other Pajaro Valley farmers that it's not 
an issue. Not only would growing hemp as cover crop help replenish the soil 
for berries, it could add money to their pockets.

And farmers are always looking for ways to make more money, given the 
nature of their business and the tight profit margins.

"If we can grow it as a cover crop and then turn around and sell it as an 
industrial use, then I don't see why not," said Edward Ortega, a longtime 
Watsonville strawberry farmer.

Steve Bontadelli, a Brussels sprouts grower in Watsonville, noted that hemp 
is an easy crop to grow.

"It's basically a weed," he said. "It grows on the sides of the road in the 
Midwest, but the problem is there's this stigma with it, and it's 
associated with marijuana."

The only person to voice objection in Sacramento, next to Parra, was a man 
who feared that if hemp was allowed in the fields, then the plant might 
cross-pollinate with his legally grown marijuana, reducing the strength of 
its THC, Bogenholm said.

"I think we might have a shot at this," said Bogenholm, who grew up in 
Santa Maria and has lived in Watsonville for almost two decades. "But we've 
got a while to wait."

The proposed legislation is to be taken up again for consideration in 
January, according to the office of Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco.

He introduced the matter this past session after a U.S. 9th Circuit Court 
of Appeals ruled last year that the federal government did not have 
authority to regulate hemp under the 1970 Controlled Substance Act.

Nikos A. Leverenz of the Drug Policy Alliance Network, a nonprofit drug 
policy reform group in Sacramento, has entered the fray. And he's all for 
the proposed law.

"The uphill battle against legalizing hemp is ... unfortunate and 
illogical," said Leverenz, the group's executive director. "The use of hemp 
is legion, and farmers in Canada are making money off it, not in the United 
States. But it's because of the political powers to be."
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