As a pediatrician and a former pharmacist, I feel that it is necessary to provide some information to voters regarding Measure 5, which would legalize marijuana for "medical" use.

1. A plant cannot be used as a medicine because we cannot answer necessary questions, including whether it is useful for a given medical condition and what is a "dose" - child versus adult, condition, route of administration? Pharmaceutical medications containing THC already exist and can be prescribed by a health care provider.

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FARGO, N.D. (AP) - A group pushing to legalize medical marijuana in North Dakota is making a last-minute advertising push thanks to a surprise donation from a national organization,

North Dakota Compassionate Care, which is sponsoring an initiated measure on the state's ballot, quickly organized the ad campaign after receiving $15,000 last week from Drug Policy Action, said group spokeswoman Anita Morgan. DPA is the political arm of a group that advocates for the overhaul of drug laws.

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It looks more and more likely there will be at least one ballot measure this fall regarding the legalizing of marijuana use in North Dakota.

There are two groups looking to have initiated measures related to marijuana use on the November ballot. One group is gathering signatures to allow medical marijuana use only and a second group gathering signatures wishes to allow legal use of marijuana by anyone over the age of 21. If signatures are gathered and it is passed by voters into law it also would allow adults 21 and older to grow marijuana and possess paraphernalia and would cap the sales tax.

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(AP) - Marijuana companies in California and Colorado have tabbed prominent American Indian leaders from the Dakotas to help prod tribes across the nation into the pot business.

Tex Hall, the former chairman of the oil-rich Three Affiliated Tribes, and Robert Shepherd, former chairman of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate tribe in northeastern South Dakota and southeastern North Dakota, are trying to recruit and assist tribes in producing high-grade marijuana products.

"Those who want to get in early are the ones who will really succeed," said Shepherd, the tribal relations officer for Denver-based Monarch America Inc.

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A bill to legalize the sale and use of marijuana for "medical purposes" recently passed in my home state of Minnesota. Similar initiatives are under way in several other states, although passage is not likely for all.

But together with a similar law in California and recent legalization in Colorado following partial legalization or "decriminalization" in Washington and Oregon, there certainly seems to be a national tide to make cannabis use legal.

Social aspects of "mood-altering substances" are complex, to say the least. But what about economic ones? These certainly exist. Some libertarian economists, most notably Nobel laureate Milton Friedman, advocated legalization of marijuana use decades ago. So it is a legitimate topic for economic analysis.

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BISMARCK, N.D. - Once thought by North Dakotans to be only a big city drug, heroin sales and use are increasing in the state, authorities say. U.S. Attorney Tim Purdon called the spike in heroin use in North Dakota "new and disturbing." He said it's the result of the abuse of prescription painkillers, a growing population and drug trafficking operations that are primarily targeting the state's rich oil patch region.

"When you have an increased population with a lot of money, it's a more desirable market for drug dealers to move into," Purdon said. "They follow the money."

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President Obama released a policy statement recently "that it's not a good use of time to go after users and distributors of medical marijuana in the 14 states that allow such usage, while encouraging that illegal pot operations involving violence, firearms and sale to minors still be pursued."

Each year there are more states that show compassion for patients by allowing the use of cannabis for medical purposes. That number has risen since 1997, and this time the president has chimed in as well.

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Jeanette McDougal's letter (on hemp) would be funny if it weren't so insulting.

Her prohibitionist stance declares that North Dakota's farmers are falling prey to the vile manipulations of the insidious "legalization movement." But McDougal's letter fails to offer any facts countering the legitimate claims of farmers who can literally watch their Canadian neighbors growing hemp and selling their harvest.

McDougal won't counter the benefits of hemp. She can't argue against it being effective against root nematodes, that it requires less (to no) herbicide and pesticide use (cost factors) and that almost all parts of the plant have a use (seeds, leaves and stalks). She can't say that all those hippies eager to weather North Dakota's mild winters will overrun the state trying to hide their pot crops amidst the hemp fields because cross pollination would ruin any quality marijuana. She can't argue that the plant doesn't have a solid and proud place in our country's agricultural history.

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I must agree with writers who say North Dakota should not grow hemp.

If North Dakota begins to grow and harvest hemp, it may eliminate the monopoly Canada has over the growing of this crop that requires little or no pesticides or fertilizers. This may very well cut into our profits.

Also, I wouldn't want any North Dakotans to have any of the jobs associated with the processing of hemp in Manitoba that we have created.

Furthermore, it is not in the interest of the North Dakota farmer to have an additional crop to rotate and to diversify their income.

So please do not legalize hemp; it is not in Canada's interest

Donovan Fontaine

Winnipeg

[end]

Response to letters by Jeanette McDougal and John Coleman:

I am proud and honored by the negative comments by McDougal and Coleman, as well as being mystified by their statements, which provide little evidence to support their negative stance on industrial hemp.

I am proud and honored that McDougal recognizes North Dakota farmers as solid citizens; however, to state that marijuana has any correlation to the efforts by me and everyone I have to date come in contact with is sorely mistaken. I personally will have nothing to do with legalization of pot.

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There have only been letters to the editor expressing opposition to the legalization of hemp, but there should also be a letter explaining the advantages of legalizing hemp growth in North Dakota.

The main argument that is keeping the crop from being legalized is that federal law considers hemp the same as marijuana, and by allowing it, they feel they would be legalizing a drug. While hemp and marijuana both come from the cannabis plant, they are different variations of the plant. Hemp contains less than 1 percent THC, and it is impossible to get a high from it.

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In rejecting the demand for hemp legislation, the North Dakota congressional delegation has recognized the obvious charade by the pro-marijuana legalizers, and this, more than anything else, is a great sign that our nation's legislators finally are becoming aware that they have been swindled in the past by drug proponents masquerading as compassionate advocates for the needs of the sick and dying or, as in this instance, ailing North Dakota farmers.

The fact is that farmers are not ailing but getting wealthy from the weak dollar that makes their exports that much cheaper for foreign markets. Hemp is available and abundant throughout the world and can be purchased elsewhere for a fraction of what it would cost to produce in the United States.

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North Dakota's congressional contingent wisely declined to lobby for hemp, no doubt realizing that North Dakota farmers are being used as a front to legalize the ultimate "cover crop," hemp.

To paraphrase Canadian hemp researcher David Marcus: "In order to overcome government reluctance to legalize industrial hemp, it is necessary to present the image of conservative, 'solid citizen' support." What group is perceived as more "solid" than America's farmers, especially North Dakota farmers?

Cover is needed because, according to the U.S. Congressional Research Service, the legalize marijuana (hemp) movement "has largely been spurred by .. Jack Herer (marijuana advocate), whose 1985 book, "The Emperor Wears No Clothes," has been instrumental in reviving interest in hemp and has helped create the grass-roots movement for marijuana reform," that is, legalization.

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I strongly disagree with the assertion, "there likely isn't widespread support for industrial hemp" (It's time to grow hemp support, Jan. 4 editorial). I have been purchasing hemp products from my local health food stores for years, using hemp imported mostly from Canada, a nice enough country, but I would rather those products use hemp grown by American farmers. Why are "free" American farmers prohibited from growing the God-given plant while communist Chinese farmers grow it? The effort prohibiting U.S. farmers from growing hemp is anti-American.

Dillon, Colo.

[end]

Supporters of industrial hemp have suffered a double setback.

First, U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland dismissed a lawsuit against the federal government by two North Dakota farmers. The farmers argued the government considered industrial hemp the same as marijuana, which is an illegal drug.

Farmers want to raise hemp as a crop. It can be used for products ranging from rope to lotion.

While ruling against the farmers, Hovland suggested they ask Congress to change the definition of industrial hemp.

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In The Hemp-Growing World, Hip, Countercultural California Is Eating North Dakota's Dust.

For the second year in a row, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has vetoed a bill that would have created state guidelines for farmers wishing to grow hemp. North Dakota passed a similar hemp guidelines law during the 2007 session with bipartisan support from lawmakers, Republican Gov. John Hoeven and Democratic Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson.

The law outlines a state permitting process for hemp, which is extensively regulated by the federal government because of its relation to marijuana. Hemp, a coarse fibrous plant with much lower THC levels than its intoxicating cousin, is used to make everything from soap to clothes.

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The Justice Department is asking a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by two North Dakota farmers who applied to the Drug Enforcement Administration for permission to grow industrial hemp.

The motion filed this week in federal court in Fargo says federal law does not distinguish between industrial hemp and marijuana, which can cause mood changes when smoked or eaten. It also says Dave Monson, a state legislator who farms near Osnabrock, and Wayne Hauge, a farmer from Ray in northwestern North Dakota, do not have a case because the DEA has not finished reviewing their applications and they cannot prove serious harm.

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The federal Drug Enforcement Administration has told North Dakota officials it is "unrealistic" for them to expect the DEA to approve industrial hemp production by Sunday.

State Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson sums up the DEA response in two words: permission denied.

Farmers Dave Monson and Wayne Hauge in February were issued the nation's first licenses to grow industrial hemp, a cousin of marijuana that falls under federal anti-drug rules even though it does not produce a high. The state licenses are worthless without DEA permission.

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Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson is asking the federal Drug Enforcement Administration to make a decision on industrial hemp licenses for two North Dakota farmers by April 1. The DEA says it won't be rushed.

"To issue any decision after this year's planting season is to decide against the applicants, since these applications are for the calendar year 2007," Johnson said in a letter this week to DEA Administrator Karen Tandy.

Farmers Dave Monson and Wayne Hauge last month were issued the nation's first licenses to grow industrial hemp, a cousin of marijuana that falls under federal anti-drug rules even though it does not produce a high. The state licenses are worthless without DEA permission.

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North Dakota legislators are urging Congress to make it easier for farmers around the country to grow hemp. But the state's congressional delegation won't be rushing to help.

Sens. Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan and Rep. Earl Pomeroy, all Democrats, are staying out of the congressional debate over industrial hemp. At issue is whether it should be treated in the same way as marijuana or whether commercial hemp production should be allowed.

The North Dakota House passed two resolutions on the issue this week, urging Congress and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration to allow farmers to grow the crop. The state last week issued the nation's first licenses to two farmers seeking to grow industrial hemp.

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