Pubdate: Fri, 19 May 2006
Source: Argus Leader (SD)
Copyright: 2006 Argus Leader
Contact:  http://www.argusleader.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/842
Author: Dan Haugen, Argus Leader
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hemp.htm (Hemp)

COURT UPHOLDS SEIZURE OF HEMP ON RESERVATION

A federal appeals court said Thursday that authorities were correct 
to confiscate industrial hemp grown on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

The crop comes from the same plant as marijuana but doesn't contain 
the chemical that's responsible for the drug's high.

Members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe maintained that federal drug laws 
don't apply to industrial hemp and that tribal sovereignty gives them 
a right to harvest the plants. The tribal council legalized 
industrial hemp in 1998, but federal agents destroyed three 
consecutive years of crops grown by the White Plume family.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision acknowledged the hemp 
as a viable agricultural commodity with countless beneficial uses, 
but said U.S. law does not allow for its production."These are policy 
arguments better suited for the congressional hearing room than the 
courtroom," the opinion says.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman