Pubdate: Tue, 12 Jun 2012
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Copyright: 2012 The Washington Post Company
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/mUgeOPdZ
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491

HEMP ACTIVIST ARRESTED NEAR WHITE HOUSE

The Plant Is a Raw Material, Not Pot, Head of Soap Company Says

David Bronner locked himself in a metal cage Monday outside the White 
House with a stash of hemp plants and equipment, hoping to make 
enough hemp oil to spread on a piece of French bread.

Bronner, president and chief executive of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps, 
never got to finish the oil-pressing process or to have his usual breakfast.

D.C. police and firefighters used a chain saw to cut open the steel 
cage door and arrest him. Bronner was charged with possession of 
marijuana and blocking passage.

Bronner, whose Californiabased company uses hemp oil in its soap 
products, pleaded with President Obama - via microphone - to allow 
hemp harvesting in the United States.

Bronner was moved to protest after a recent 28,000-signature petition 
asking for hemp legalization didn't get the response he wanted, 
according to his spokesman, Ryan Fletcher.

The protest began at 8 a.m., when Bronner and his caged trailer were 
dropped off on H Street NW next to Lafayette Square. Park police and 
Secret Service members joined D.C. police and fire officials, who 
worked for a couple of hours to open the cage.

Bronner had designed the trailer so it could not easily be broken 
into or towed away by police, Fletcher said.

Atop the trailer was a sign that read, "DEAR MR. PRESIDENT. LET U.S. 
FARMERS GROW HEMP!"

Bronner's actions prompted police to shut down traffic around 16th 
and H streets at about 10:30 a.m.

U.S. drug law defines hemp as a controlled substance, the same as 
marijuana, making the plants inside Bronner's trailer illegal. Live 
hemp seeds may not be imported into the country, and hemp may not be 
grown. However, hemp-derived food, textiles and other products may be 
imported or produced in the United States from non-living hemp material.

Bronner says that lab tests confirm the THC level in his hemp plants 
is less than 0.3 percent, the international standard for industrial 
hemp. THC is the main psychoactive chemical in marijuana, where it is 
much more concentrated.

"We import roughly $100,000 a year of hemp oil from Canada," Fletcher 
said. "He's doing this action in part because he wants to be able to 
source that hemp oil from American farmers, rather than exporting his 
dollars to Canada."

Last week, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) introduced a measure that would 
label hemp as an agricultural crop. The amendment was backed by Sen. 
Rand Paul (R-Ky.).

Monday's protest was not Bronner's first action to promote hemp 
cultivation in the United States. In 2009, Bronner and others planted 
hemp seeds on the front lawn of the Drug Enforcement Administration 
Museum and Visitors Center in Arlington. They were arrested and 
charged with trespassing.

Bronner's grandfather, E.H. Bronner, founded Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap 
in 1948. The company produces some of the top-selling organic soaps 
in the country.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom