BISMARCK, N.D. - Industrial hemp could easily become a leading alternative cash crop of the future in North Dakota, after all it has been growing wild for decades in the state - so proficiently, in fact, that it has even been classified as a noxious weed. But producers and ag officials are rediscovering the crop's agricultural value and have been working hard to allow hemp to be grown here. And beginning Jan. 1, North Dakota farmers may be able to get in on the value-added ag side of the crop as the state will be the first in the nation to issue licenses to farmers to grow industrial hemp next spring. [continues 1743 words]
North Dakota farmers interested in growing industrial hemp have cleared one hurdle, but there remains a huge obstacle in front of them: The Drug Enforcement Agency. Farmers may apply for state licenses to grow industrial hemp under rules that take effect next year. But applying for and receiving a state license is no guarantee that a farmer can plant any hemp seed. Federal drug agents must give their approval to the state's plan before anything can happen. Hemp, a biological cousin of marijuana, contains trace amounts of tetahydrocannabinol, or THC, a banned substance. Because of that, hemp and marijuana fall under the same federal regulations. [continues 170 words]
BISMARCK, N.D.-- North Dakota farmers may start applying for state licenses to grow industrial hemp next year but no seed may be sown until federal drug agents approve, Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson says. "We'll see where it goes," said Johnson, who has been pushing industrial hemp as a crop in North Dakota for more than a decade. "Hopefully, North Dakota will be the first state where producers can grow hemp for legitimate uses." The federal Drug Enforcement Agency remains a major hurdle for would-be growers of marijuana's biological cousin. [continues 435 words]
BISMARCK, N.D. -- State rules for growing industrial hemp are close to taking effect, although federal drug agents will have the final say on whether farmers may cultivate it, Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson said. Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem issued a letter Wednesday saying the proposed rules comply with state law. A legislative committee that reviews North Dakota agency regulations still must go over them before they take effect, Johnson said. Industrial hemp is a relative of marijuana, but does not have the hallucinogenic chemical that provides a "high" when the leaf is smoked. It is used to produce an assortment of goods, including paper, rope, clothing and cosmetics. [continues 229 words]
The School Board here plans to use drug-sniffing dogs to check parking lots around school buildings. "We're looking at this as preventative," said Ron Gruwell, assistant superintendent of secondary education. The School Board on Monday unanimously approved putting the dogs to work in all parking areas surrounding the schools, whether district owned or not, and including side streets. The School Board was told by its attorney that the use of the dogs is not considered an illegal search. "It's what you do after a dog would hit on a car that could be problematic," Gruwell said. [continues 70 words]
State rules for growing industrial hemp are close to taking effect, although federal drug agents will have the final say on whether farmers may cultivate it, Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson said. Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem issued a letter Wednesday saying the proposed rules comply with state law. A legislative committee that reviews North Dakota agency regulations still must go over them before they take effect, Johnson said. Industrial hemp is a relative of marijuana, but does not have the hallucinogenic chemical that provides a "high" when the leaf is smoked. It is used to produce an assortment of goods, including paper, rope, clothing and cosmetics. [continues 228 words]
Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson has extended the comment period for rules on the production of industrial hemp in North Dakota. The new deadline is Oct. 30. Johnson said his department made some changes after a public hearing in June and wants to give people more time to review them. The rules require growers to pass a criminal background check and be fingerprinted. The federal Drug Enforcement Administration would review each permit application and have the final say on whether a farmer is allowed to grow hemp. [continues 72 words]
North Dakota's Supreme Court has reinstated a law that requires methamphetamine defendants to assent to random drug testing, at their own expense, if they're freed on bail. A Fargo judge had declared the provision unconstitutional. East Central District Judge Steven McCullough used a procedure that was "not conducive to reasoned decision-making" in ruling the law should not be enforced, the state Supreme Court justices said in a unanimous opinion. "Our jurisprudence for deciding constitutional issues requires an orderly process for the development of constitutional claims, which . was not followed in this case," Chief Justice Gerald VandeWalle wrote in the court's decision Thursday. [continues 215 words]
BISMARCK, N.D. -- North Dakota is pushing ahead with plans to license state farmers to grow industrial hemp even as it tries to allay law enforcement fears about marijuana's biological cousin. State Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson and his department are crafting hemp rules after meeting in February with Drug Enforcement Agency officials in Washington. A public hearing on the proposed rules is slated for June 15. The rules would require a criminal background check on farmers who want to grow hemp. The sale of hemp and location of the hemp fields must be documented. And the farmer must get a permit from the DEA. [continues 454 words]
BISMARCK, N.D. -- North Dakota is pushing ahead with plans to license state farmers to grow industrial hemp even as it tries to allay law enforcement fears about marijuana's biological cousin. State Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson and his department are crafting hemp rules after meeting in February with Drug Enforcement Agency officials in Washington. A public hearing on the proposed rules is slated for June 15. The rules would require a criminal background check on farmers who want to grow hemp. The sale of hemp and location of the hemp fields must be documented. And the farmer must get a permit from the DEA. [continues 468 words]
The musical review was in full swing. Decked out in jack-o'-lantern orange T-shirts emblazed with the Drug Abuse Resistance Education logo, fifth-graders at Reinertsen Elementary School in Moorhead clapped, snapped and gestured their hearts out to relay a simple message: They won't do drugs. "Actions have consequences don't you see?" about 100 fifth-graders sang. "Choose your behavior responsibly." The performance, part of a D.A.R.E. graduation ceremony last week, marked the end of eight lessons geared toward helping kids say no to drugs and alcohol. [continues 1331 words]
The Bismarck Police Department is investigating a case where a newborn baby tested positive for cannabis, the chemical found in marijuana. Lt. Dan Donlin said Burleigh County Social Services contacted police after a doctor at Medcenter One filled out a form 990, which is a report of suspected child abuse. The police report stated that a doctor tested the baby for cannabis after seeing symptoms of drugs in the baby's system. Donlin would not release the names of the child or the parents because he said the case is under investigation. [end]
Ag Commission Johnson says Drug Enforcement Agency 'cordial,' but cautioned about fed law complications Herald Staff Report North Dakota and three other states made their case today with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency to allow the cultivation of industrial hemp, according to the state Department of Agriculture. North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson and counterparts from West Virginia, Massachusetts and Wisconsin met with several DEA officials. In a news release, Johnson said his department is drafting new rules to control the production of industrial hemp, and that he wanted to solicit input from DEA. The new rules would implement state laws, passed by the Legislature in 1999 through 2005. [continues 189 words]
A regional law enforcement agency, credited with stemming the volume of methamphetamine and other drug issues in the area, is at risk of losing the entire federal grant that subsidizes it. The Northwest Narcotics Task Force is scheduled to lose all of its Edgar G. Byrne Memorial Grant in 2007. "We need to have 100 percent of it reinstated," said Williams County Sheriff Scott Busching. "It makes no sense to me. It's one of the only federal programs where you see tangible results. It's money well spent." [continues 948 words]
While random student drug testing has become an issue elsewhere, Fargo school officials say it hasn't been on the front burner here. School district Activities Director Ed Lockwood said random testing was considered several years ago, but now the district is trying to educate students aE" including those involved in athletics and extracurricular activities aE" about drugs using speakers, posters, literature and videos. Last week, New Jersey became the first state to approve random drug testing for high school athletes. [continues 768 words]
Barnes County will feel the effect of federal budget cuts come January when one officer on the Stutsman-Barnes Narcotics Task Force will be eliminated. This is the certain outcome of the latest legislative session in which federal funds were redirected from the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program. Funding from this program enabled task forces in all states to maintain officers specific to drug enforcement. "That person's job is focused on drug enforcement," said Valley City Police Chief Dean Ross. "He could follow through without other things getting in the way, such as traffic stops, deaths, assaults, and accident reports. It keeps the drug agent doing what he does best." "It is frustrating that we can get funds to buy equipment, but nothing is available to maintain officers ..." VC Police Chief Dean Ross Ross indicated the supporting funds for the program have been declining over the past years. "It started at a 72 / 28 match, then 65 / 35. Now it's a zero match." [continues 214 words]
Regarding David Chapman's Oct. 30 column on drug testing, there is far more at stake than liberty. Random drug testing in the workplace may do more harm than good. The invasive tests may compel users of relatively harmless marijuana to switch to harder drugs like methamphetamine to avoid testing positive. Despite a short-lived high, marijuana is the only drug that stays in the human body long enough to make urinalysis a deterrent. Marijuana's organic metabolites are fat-soluble and can linger for days. Synthetic drugs are water-soluble and exit the body quickly. An employee who uses meth on Friday night will likely test clean on Monday morning. If you think drug users don't know this, think again. Anyone capable of running a search on the Internet can find out how to thwart a drug test. [continues 76 words]
Pastor Mark Haines, prison chaplain from Jamestown, summed up the methamphetamine problem in a few words. "There's an epidemic out there." Haines was the featured speaker at the Meth Task Force quarterly meeting held in Valley City on Monday. He explained what he does in his job and how the community can help. "There are some tough days, such as when a baby dies or a mother dies, but there are many great days and people getting well," he told members of the Meth Task Force. [continues 717 words]
Until I tried my first federal drug crime case, I had never seen an illegal drug up close. I could not have differentiated between marijuana and tea leaves. I am not embarrassed by the naivete on this issue. I simply have no inclination to venture into the subculture of drugs it never even occurred to me. As a drug na?ve citizen, I still find the trend towards mandatory, random drug testing in the workplace to be disturbing. Random drug tests mean just that. The workforce is targeted at random in the workplace and tested for controlled substances through urinalysis. The drug user and the drug na?ve are all caught in the same net. [continues 493 words]
BISMARCK, N.D. - Authorities who stopped a man's car twice in less than an hour to check its illegally tinted windows were justified in searching it for marijuana, a divided North Dakota Supreme Court concluded. The court's five justices split 3-2 in their ruling Tuesday, with Justice Mary Muehlen Maring and Chief Justice Gerald VandeWalle arguing that police conduct in the case "bordered on harassment." The decision upholds Brent Bartelson's guilty plea to a felony charge of possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. [continues 504 words]
A woman charged with child abuse and neglect for exposing her unborn baby to methamphetamine appeared in Burleigh County District Court on Monday for a preliminary hearing. Orlonda Hopkins, 19, of Mandan, is accused of smoking meth from the time she was seven months pregnant to June 16, when her son was born. Bismarck Police Detective Mark Gaddis testified that doctors at Medcenter One noticed the baby was acting strangely. He would not wake up to be fed. His behavior prompted doctors to test him for various drugs, and the tests came back positive for meth. [continues 257 words]
There has been plenty of bad news in recent months about illicit drug use, particularly in regard to highly destructive methamphetamine. But there's a little good news for a change from an ongoing federal survey of teenage drug and tobacco use: Fewer teens are using illegal drugs and tobacco today than was the case a few years ago, according to those that responded to the poll. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, an annual survey of close to 70,000 people, illegal drug use among those ages 12-17 dropped from 11.6 percent of the group to 10.6 percent between 2002 and 2004. Tobacco use also declined slightly, from 30.4 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds to 29.2 percent. [continues 169 words]
North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem says a law requiring shoppers to show identification to buy cold pills has had a big impact on the production of methamphetamine. Stenehjem said last week that since the law took effect June 1, authorities have found 23 meth labs, a 64 percent drop in the number of labs that were discovered during the same three-month time period from last year. In August 2004, law officers broke up 16 meth labs. In August 2005, police found only four such facilities. [continues 156 words]
BISMARCK, N.D. - Requiring North Dakotans to show identification to buy cold pills has throttled the growth of illegal methamphetamine labs, which need the pills to make the illegal drug, Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said. "This is the first truly good news on the meth-lab front that we've seen since the epidemic first started in North Dakota eight years ago," Stenehjem said Thursday. In recent years, the Legislature has imposed a number of restrictions on buying cold remedies that contain pseudoephedrine, a compound that is distilled to make methamphetamine. Meth is a toxic, highly addictive stimulant. [continues 313 words]
U.S. District Judge Rodney Webb breathed a sigh of relief when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down mandatory sentencing ranges in January. The congressional mandates reduced judges to "whipping boys" who had little discretion in sentencing criminals, Webb said Wednesday. "It just galls me that someone would suggest they know more about handling a case before me," he said. But recent statements by U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales show that the struggle between Congress and the judicial branch is far from over, Webb said. [continues 430 words]
Program Works With Juveniles To Steer Them Off Drugs, Alcohol It's been a tough road for 15-year-old Cody since smoking pot and other run-ins with the law landed him in drug court in Grand Forks, a program aimed at intervening in the lives of substance abusing juveniles. Obeying a curfew, taking random drug tests and meeting regularly with probation, drug treatment and school officials are just the beginning of the straight and narrow that Cody is expected to navigate. Two weeks ago, a slip-up put him in home detention. [continues 1082 words]
Williston was the first stop of 10 for North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem to explain why getting cold medicine will be more difficult for residents. Turnout was low at the Monday morning meeting at the Airport International Inn where he detailed stricter access and monitoring of medicine to slow the illegal production of methamphetamine. The meeting was geared for retailers and the general public, but over half of the 10 attending were law enforcement officials. Stenehjem said agents will be stopping by each retailer, updating them about the new laws. [continues 380 words]
North Dakota's government continues to show support for the federal legalization of industrial hemp with the passing of House Bill 1492. The bill, sponsored by Rep. David Monson, R-Osnabrock, allows North Dakota State University to store "feral hemp seeds" in preparation for the day it becomes legal to grow industrial hemp in the United States. Monson has been fighting with the federal government since 1997 to make industrial hemp legal to grow in NDSU research plots. In 1999, North Dakota became the first state to pass hemp farming legislation, but to date the state has not challenged federal supremacy over the issue in the courts. [continues 592 words]
When parents or other adults think about drug addiction they may envision pot smokers, cocaine sniffers, and methamphetamine users. But they tend to disregard one very dangerous classification of drug - inhalants. Gloria Pesek of the Meth Task Force in Valley City urges parents and others to be aware of potential inhalant use by youths. Common, legal products - such as fingernail polish and remover, typewriter correction fluid and gasoline - can prove lethal even for first-time users. Inhaling the gas from helium-filled balloons is also a very dangerous practice common among youths and adults alike to make their voices sound like that of a cartoon character. (Photo submitted) [continues 1007 words]
The U.S. Supreme Court didn't do badly last week in its two-part decision on mandatory federal prison sentences. On the one hand, by a 5-4 vote, it found the mandatory sentences to be unconstitutional because judges acting alone do the "fact finding" in certain details that inform the sentences, "such as the amount of drugs involved in a crime, the number of victims in a fraud or whether a defendant committed perjury during trial," wrote Associated Press writer Gina Holland. [continues 388 words]
Forty-two less methamphetamine labs were confiscated in 2004 in North Dakota, but that doesn't mean the addiction epidemic is waning. The North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation reported 255 meth labs were raided last year, compared to 297 for all of 2003. Williams County alone accounted for 25 percent of the 2004 figures with 64 labs. The combined five-county area in northwest North Dakota makes up 31 percent of total labs with 81, stated the report. One lab was uncovered in Mountrail County in 2004, compared to four in 2003. Burke County reported zero meth labs busted last year. There were two total in 2003. Divide County tied its 2003 numbers with two meth labs in 2004. [continues 934 words]
Some pretty big suits filled chairs in a Bismarck courtroom on Friday morning. They belonged to names such as Hoeven, Stenehjem and VandeWalle. But it wasn't North Dakota's governor, attorney general and chief justice who were being celebrated. Nearly 80 people filled the courtroom in support of men and women with lesser-known names. Adrian, Tim and Don. Dennis, Jackie and Melissa. Bismarck-Mandan's drug court -- the first in North Dakota -- turned 4 years old this week. South Central District Judge Bruce Haskell hosted a party Friday that included several dignitaries, a few drug court graduates and 16 people currently enrolled in the program. People with names like Adrian or Melissa, who are trying to clean up their lives. [continues 301 words]
The type and amount of assistance the United States is providing to the disaster ravaged areas of Indonesia is fantastic. The fact that we are able to so quickly respond to such disasters is truly astounding. Many people deserve accolades for their ability and dedication toward helping others in need. Having folks with these abilities, and matching them with the freedom to demonstrate those abilities, is in my opinion what makes our country the most sought after country in the world in which to live. [continues 523 words]
Inside North Dakota
