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Montmorency commissioners pass MIHEMP resolution of support
May 26, 2011
Erika Fifelski - News Staff Writer , The Alpena News
ATLANTA - Montmorency County commissioners passed a resolution supporting the MI Hemp organization. The county joins Presque Isle commissioners in passing the resolution that states the the county recognizes the difference between industrial hemp and marijuana.
The resolution also asks Michigan and United States legislatures to do the same and allow U.S. farmers to grow the product legally. Hemp is currently a schedule one illegal substance classified as such by the Drug Enforcement Administration. By rescheduling the plant and making it legal to grow in the U.S., agricultural industries would benefit, Hillman resident Everett Swift said.
"Ask the state legislature to pass legislation to allow farmers to grow (hemp) without a license from the DEA, ask the federal government to recognize the difference," Swift said.
U.S. Congressman Ron Paul of Texas is sponsoring House Bill 1831 "to amend the Controlled Substances Act to exclude industrial hemp from the definition of marijuana, and for other purposes," as stated by the bill. The bill is being co-sponsored by Michigan Congressman Dan Benishek.
Swift said the U.S. currently imports hemp from Canada and China, and the plant product is used in many things sold at stores around the country. Of the 30 industrialized countries in the world, the U.S. is the only one that is not allowed to grow the plant, he said.
Briley Township Supervisor John Zollars read an article to commissioners outlining China's recent hemp production developments. He said resistance from the DEA boils down to confusion between hemp and marijuana and the DEA's fear of hemp replacing cotton and other textile materials. The switch to using hemp instead of cotton would, however, free up more land for agricultural food growth, Zollars said.
"This is a thing everybody that has a few acres of land could get involved in," he said. "It's absolutely ridiculous that the government can't understand the economic impact."
Commissioner Bert LaFleche voted in favor of the resolution. He previously voted no on any proposal brought before the board in favor of hemp production in Michigan. Commissioner Daryl Peterson did not support the proposal. Although he said hemp would benefit farmers, he believes legalizing the growth of the plant should be done by means of petition, not governmental resolution.
"I'm not against the concept, just the way it's being done," he said.
Even so, the motion passed at Wednesday's meeting, and Swift said his organization will move on to the remaining six Northeast Michigan counties to ask for support.
Erika Fifelski can be reached via e-mail at efifelski@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5688.
In the Detroit Metro Times Feb, 3, 2011
Hemp on the ropes
Efforts to liberalize hemp growing could offer jobs and revenues
By Larry Gabriel
Back in the 1970s, a friend of mine was headed to Missouri on a motorbike. Due to the low horsepower and speed of his vehicle, he stuck to the back roads. As he cruised through rural Indiana he looked over and gosh-a-mighty there was a field of marijuana as far as the eye could see. Feeling like he'd hit the jackpot on a one-armed bandit he grabbed as much as he could carry and headed on down the road.
When he finally got around to smoking it, imagine his surprise when it didn't get him high. It was probably a wild hemp field left over from World War II, when it was widely grown as part of the war effort. Back then, the U.S. government produced and distributed Hemp for Victory, a film encouraging farmers to grow hemp because industrial fiber was in short supply.
Hemp is the non-psychoactive cousin of marijuana. It has about a 0.3 percent level of THC, the part of marijuana that gets you high, while marijuana's level is more like 5 percent to 10 percent. There are some 25,000 products made from hemp or with hemp ingredients or parts, from textiles to soap to cooking oil to cars. Yet almost all of them come from outside of the United States, because the hemp plant is lumped in with marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug along with the likes of heroin and cocaine. Even during World War II, farmers who grew it needed a special permit.
"The United States has sweeping anti-marijuana laws that don't recognize that hemp is not the same as marijuana," says LaMar Lemmons Jr., a former state representative who introduced three bills supporting hemp in Lansing last year.
"The Chinese make a massive amount of hemp products, everything from foodstuffs to bricks. There's a biodegradable plastic that's made from hemp, there's a brick that's stronger than concrete. It's all part of the new green economy."
Lemmons' bills — one called for Congress to reschedule industrial hemp and remove barriers to farming it, another for a feasibility study on growing hemp in the state, a third to allow hemp farming here without DEA permits — went to the Committee on Agriculture and died when the new legislative body came in on Jan. 1. Lemmons, who retired due to term limits, says the main problem around hemp is "ignorance."
"For lack of a better word, people are unfamiliar with the difference between psychoactive and non-psychoactive," Lemmons says. "They see no upside and they're hesitant to do anything courageous or think outside of the box."
Maybe a little education would help. That's certainly the goal of the Michigan Industrial Hemp Education and Marketing Project that is, according to its website, "working to expand hemp as a natural resource for industrial and private enterprise." MIHEMP is holding an Industrial Hemp Education Bazaar Feb. 19, at the Atlanta Senior Center in Atlanta, in northern Michigan. The event will feature hemp products for sale, speakers on hemp farming, workshops connecting retailers with producers of hemp products, video presentations and hemp history. There will be an auction too — though I'm not sure what folks will be bidding on.
"We'll have a hemp block that is a mixture of hemp and lime. They built a house out of it in Asheville, N.C.," says Everett Swift, director of MIHEMP. "We import $350 million of raw hemp materials each year. It's used in Dr. Bronner's soap; Johnson Controls uses it to make switches. Importing drives the cost up. It could create a new crop for farmers, and it's better for the environment than many crops."
Swift's most immediate legislative goal is to get Montmorency County — Atlanta is the county seat — to pass a resolution in favor of industrial hemp farming in order to push the state Legislature to act on the issue. In an "up North" area where agriculture is a frontline reality, that seems to make sense.
That's also the case in tiny Benzie County, population 15,998, just south of the Traverse City area.
"Two of our main farmers, they're just waiting for hemp to become legal so they can start growing it," says the Rev. Steven B. Thompson, director of Michigan NORML. "If our agricultural community were allowed to grow hemp, it would create jobs. Companies are now buying hemp, but bringing it in from other countries. It would help our farmers. Farms in this area are suffering greatly."
Hemp is the flip side of the cannabis coin. While medical marijuana activists tout the economic benefits of the medical marijuana industry, and those fighting to outright legalize the weed tout the potential revenues of a regulate-and-tax approach, hemp itself may be good medicine for the economy.
There is a page on the MIHEMP website (tinyurl.com/5t9xh2a) that displays an amazing number of products that can be made from hemp. The seed itself seems to be a trove of plenty, used in the making of such edible products as bread, ice cream, protein powder, salad oil, margarine and granola. The seed also contributes ingredients for shampoos, cosmetics, diesel fuel, printing ink and pet foods. The fibrous stalk accounts for numerous textile products, fiberboard, insulation, paper products and ethanol. That's a short list. Note that the leaves and flowers aren't used, although in marijuana those are the main source of THC.
At last year's Electric Vehicle trade show in Vancouver, Canada's Motive Industries debuted the Kestrel, a four-seat car with an outer shell made of a hemp-based composite. Production is to kick off this year. But that's in Canada, where regulated hemp agriculture was legalized in 1998. It's a wonder Canadians have enough hemp for manufacturing; U.S. companies buy up about 90 percent of Canada's hemp harvest.
Hemp has a venerable history in the United States. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were hemp farmers, and early drafts of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were written on hemp paper (which reportedly does not yellow with age). For those concerned with the environment, one acre of hemp is said to yield four times the pulp used for paper-making than an acre of trees.
Hemp can be grown in any state and some 17 of them have passed resolutions to study the possibility of hemp agriculture. A handful of states have passed legislation allowing some experimental hemp farming with DEA approval. However, the feds have not handed out any approvals.
Michigan is not one of those states pursuing hemp, but Swift hopes some state legislator picks up the idea and runs with it. Lemmons says he has talked to one current legislator who has an interest but wants to know more. That's not a ringing endorsement, but Lemmons has some hope that hemp will have its day.
"It can create thousands of jobs," says Lemmons. "In Detroit I'm happy if someone creates 12 jobs. But there are potentially tens of thousands of jobs with hemp. We can ship it anywhere from here. We can do the agricultural part in the many farms throughout the state and the processing in Detroit. With the large amount of vacant land in Detroit, we could do some of the agriculture right here."
Last week, state attorney general Bill Schuette's spokesman John Selleck called medical marijuana the "No. 1 growth industry in Michigan," in an argument disparaging it. Flip the coin to the hemp side and it looks like you could tie up some tidy profits with a nascent hemp industry.
And, as we should all know by now, you can't smoke rope.nbsp;
In the Montmorency County Tribune Feb, 3, 2010
Daryl Peterson is appointed to County Board of Commissioners
- by Yvonne Swager
February 3, 2010
Daryl Peterson has been appointed as county commissioner of District III. Three people expressed interest in the board seat and were interviewed at the regular county board meeting Jan. 27.
Peterson said he had been serving the public for 40 years. He said he was familiar with the headaches that accompany public service, and he was ready for a few more.
Everett Swift said he would represent the people as if elected if he were appointed as commissioner. He said he thought the short-term appointment would help him determine if he would like to run for the position in the future.
Arthur Hunt said he was interested in serving as a commissioner so he can help solve some of the county’s problems. He said more consideration should be given to utilizing technology for increased productivity.
A motion to nominate Peterson passed. Board members indicated Peterson’s lengthy resume of public service and accounting skills was a primary factor in his appointment as commissioner.
Swift not only addressed the board regarding his interest in serving the county, but he once again appealed to the board to pass a resolution in favor of allowing the growth of industrial hemp in Montmorency County.
Although there is no ordinance in the county prohibiting growth of the plant, farmers need the support of local governments in order to apply to the state for a permit. It was the third time appealing to the board for support.
Swift said the Declaration of Independence provides that all men are created equal. Since some farmers in other states have obtained permits, he said rights of those here are being violated.
“Why is it that the Declaration of Independence does not apply to us?” Swift asked.
According to Swift, Terrie Case, county attorney, has incorrectly determined the growth of hemp is illegal. Case said she spent a number of hours researching the issue in all the times Swift has approached the board regarding permission to grow hemp.
Case said the Drug Enforcement Agency issued an opinion in 2003 that indicated hemp is a controlled substance.
“I have to follow the DEA rules,” Case said.
Instead of voting on Swift’s resolution, the board approved a letter to be provided to the state that acknowledges federal interpretation and states “…there is no ordinance in Montmorency County which would prohibit this agricultural endeavor should it be removed from the Schedule 1 controlled substance list.”
Industrial Hemp Proposal Not Acted On In Montmorency County
Posted: 1/28/2010
Montmorency County wants no part of one man's proposal to grow industrial hemp.
For the third time, the Board of Commissioners took no action at a meeting Wednesday.
Everett Swift believes the crop will be beneficial to the local economy.
It can be used to make different items from rope to cement, but currently it's all imported from other countries.
Growing industrial hemp is illegal on the federal level, but people can request a permit if approved by the local and state government.
The county chose not to support that.
Print Media » back to top «
Montmorency commissioners pass MIHEMP resolution of support
May 26, 2011Erika Fifelski - News Staff Writer , The Alpena News
ATLANTA - Montmorency County commissioners passed a resolution supporting the MI Hemp organization. The county joins Presque Isle commissioners in passing the resolution that states the the county recognizes the difference between industrial hemp and marijuana.
The resolution also asks Michigan and United States legislatures to do the same and allow U.S. farmers to grow the product legally. Hemp is currently a schedule one illegal substance classified as such by the Drug Enforcement Administration. By rescheduling the plant and making it legal to grow in the U.S., agricultural industries would benefit, Hillman resident Everett Swift said.
"Ask the state legislature to pass legislation to allow farmers to grow (hemp) without a license from the DEA, ask the federal government to recognize the difference," Swift said.
U.S. Congressman Ron Paul of Texas is sponsoring House Bill 1831 "to amend the Controlled Substances Act to exclude industrial hemp from the definition of marijuana, and for other purposes," as stated by the bill. The bill is being co-sponsored by Michigan Congressman Dan Benishek.
Swift said the U.S. currently imports hemp from Canada and China, and the plant product is used in many things sold at stores around the country. Of the 30 industrialized countries in the world, the U.S. is the only one that is not allowed to grow the plant, he said.
Briley Township Supervisor John Zollars read an article to commissioners outlining China's recent hemp production developments. He said resistance from the DEA boils down to confusion between hemp and marijuana and the DEA's fear of hemp replacing cotton and other textile materials. The switch to using hemp instead of cotton would, however, free up more land for agricultural food growth, Zollars said.
"This is a thing everybody that has a few acres of land could get involved in," he said. "It's absolutely ridiculous that the government can't understand the economic impact."
Commissioner Bert LaFleche voted in favor of the resolution. He previously voted no on any proposal brought before the board in favor of hemp production in Michigan. Commissioner Daryl Peterson did not support the proposal. Although he said hemp would benefit farmers, he believes legalizing the growth of the plant should be done by means of petition, not governmental resolution.
"I'm not against the concept, just the way it's being done," he said.
Even so, the motion passed at Wednesday's meeting, and Swift said his organization will move on to the remaining six Northeast Michigan counties to ask for support.
Erika Fifelski can be reached via e-mail at efifelski@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5688.
In the Detroit Metro Times Feb, 3, 2011
Hemp on the ropes
Efforts to liberalize hemp growing could offer jobs and revenues
By Larry Gabriel
Back in the 1970s, a friend of mine was headed to Missouri on a motorbike. Due to the low horsepower and speed of his vehicle, he stuck to the back roads. As he cruised through rural Indiana he looked over and gosh-a-mighty there was a field of marijuana as far as the eye could see. Feeling like he'd hit the jackpot on a one-armed bandit he grabbed as much as he could carry and headed on down the road.
When he finally got around to smoking it, imagine his surprise when it didn't get him high. It was probably a wild hemp field left over from World War II, when it was widely grown as part of the war effort. Back then, the U.S. government produced and distributed Hemp for Victory, a film encouraging farmers to grow hemp because industrial fiber was in short supply.
Hemp is the non-psychoactive cousin of marijuana. It has about a 0.3 percent level of THC, the part of marijuana that gets you high, while marijuana's level is more like 5 percent to 10 percent. There are some 25,000 products made from hemp or with hemp ingredients or parts, from textiles to soap to cooking oil to cars. Yet almost all of them come from outside of the United States, because the hemp plant is lumped in with marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug along with the likes of heroin and cocaine. Even during World War II, farmers who grew it needed a special permit.
"The United States has sweeping anti-marijuana laws that don't recognize that hemp is not the same as marijuana," says LaMar Lemmons Jr., a former state representative who introduced three bills supporting hemp in Lansing last year.
"The Chinese make a massive amount of hemp products, everything from foodstuffs to bricks. There's a biodegradable plastic that's made from hemp, there's a brick that's stronger than concrete. It's all part of the new green economy."
Lemmons' bills — one called for Congress to reschedule industrial hemp and remove barriers to farming it, another for a feasibility study on growing hemp in the state, a third to allow hemp farming here without DEA permits — went to the Committee on Agriculture and died when the new legislative body came in on Jan. 1. Lemmons, who retired due to term limits, says the main problem around hemp is "ignorance."
"For lack of a better word, people are unfamiliar with the difference between psychoactive and non-psychoactive," Lemmons says. "They see no upside and they're hesitant to do anything courageous or think outside of the box."
Maybe a little education would help. That's certainly the goal of the Michigan Industrial Hemp Education and Marketing Project that is, according to its website, "working to expand hemp as a natural resource for industrial and private enterprise." MIHEMP is holding an Industrial Hemp Education Bazaar Feb. 19, at the Atlanta Senior Center in Atlanta, in northern Michigan. The event will feature hemp products for sale, speakers on hemp farming, workshops connecting retailers with producers of hemp products, video presentations and hemp history. There will be an auction too — though I'm not sure what folks will be bidding on.
"We'll have a hemp block that is a mixture of hemp and lime. They built a house out of it in Asheville, N.C.," says Everett Swift, director of MIHEMP. "We import $350 million of raw hemp materials each year. It's used in Dr. Bronner's soap; Johnson Controls uses it to make switches. Importing drives the cost up. It could create a new crop for farmers, and it's better for the environment than many crops."
Swift's most immediate legislative goal is to get Montmorency County — Atlanta is the county seat — to pass a resolution in favor of industrial hemp farming in order to push the state Legislature to act on the issue. In an "up North" area where agriculture is a frontline reality, that seems to make sense.
That's also the case in tiny Benzie County, population 15,998, just south of the Traverse City area.
"Two of our main farmers, they're just waiting for hemp to become legal so they can start growing it," says the Rev. Steven B. Thompson, director of Michigan NORML. "If our agricultural community were allowed to grow hemp, it would create jobs. Companies are now buying hemp, but bringing it in from other countries. It would help our farmers. Farms in this area are suffering greatly."
Hemp is the flip side of the cannabis coin. While medical marijuana activists tout the economic benefits of the medical marijuana industry, and those fighting to outright legalize the weed tout the potential revenues of a regulate-and-tax approach, hemp itself may be good medicine for the economy.
There is a page on the MIHEMP website (tinyurl.com/5t9xh2a) that displays an amazing number of products that can be made from hemp. The seed itself seems to be a trove of plenty, used in the making of such edible products as bread, ice cream, protein powder, salad oil, margarine and granola. The seed also contributes ingredients for shampoos, cosmetics, diesel fuel, printing ink and pet foods. The fibrous stalk accounts for numerous textile products, fiberboard, insulation, paper products and ethanol. That's a short list. Note that the leaves and flowers aren't used, although in marijuana those are the main source of THC.
At last year's Electric Vehicle trade show in Vancouver, Canada's Motive Industries debuted the Kestrel, a four-seat car with an outer shell made of a hemp-based composite. Production is to kick off this year. But that's in Canada, where regulated hemp agriculture was legalized in 1998. It's a wonder Canadians have enough hemp for manufacturing; U.S. companies buy up about 90 percent of Canada's hemp harvest.
Hemp has a venerable history in the United States. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were hemp farmers, and early drafts of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were written on hemp paper (which reportedly does not yellow with age). For those concerned with the environment, one acre of hemp is said to yield four times the pulp used for paper-making than an acre of trees.
Hemp can be grown in any state and some 17 of them have passed resolutions to study the possibility of hemp agriculture. A handful of states have passed legislation allowing some experimental hemp farming with DEA approval. However, the feds have not handed out any approvals.
Michigan is not one of those states pursuing hemp, but Swift hopes some state legislator picks up the idea and runs with it. Lemmons says he has talked to one current legislator who has an interest but wants to know more. That's not a ringing endorsement, but Lemmons has some hope that hemp will have its day.
"It can create thousands of jobs," says Lemmons. "In Detroit I'm happy if someone creates 12 jobs. But there are potentially tens of thousands of jobs with hemp. We can ship it anywhere from here. We can do the agricultural part in the many farms throughout the state and the processing in Detroit. With the large amount of vacant land in Detroit, we could do some of the agriculture right here."
Last week, state attorney general Bill Schuette's spokesman John Selleck called medical marijuana the "No. 1 growth industry in Michigan," in an argument disparaging it. Flip the coin to the hemp side and it looks like you could tie up some tidy profits with a nascent hemp industry.
And, as we should all know by now, you can't smoke rope.nbsp;
In the Montmorency County Tribune Feb, 3, 2010
Daryl Peterson is appointed to County Board of Commissioners- by Yvonne Swager
February 3, 2010
Daryl Peterson has been appointed as county commissioner of District III. Three people expressed interest in the board seat and were interviewed at the regular county board meeting Jan. 27.
Peterson said he had been serving the public for 40 years. He said he was familiar with the headaches that accompany public service, and he was ready for a few more.
Everett Swift said he would represent the people as if elected if he were appointed as commissioner. He said he thought the short-term appointment would help him determine if he would like to run for the position in the future.
Arthur Hunt said he was interested in serving as a commissioner so he can help solve some of the county’s problems. He said more consideration should be given to utilizing technology for increased productivity.
A motion to nominate Peterson passed. Board members indicated Peterson’s lengthy resume of public service and accounting skills was a primary factor in his appointment as commissioner.
Swift not only addressed the board regarding his interest in serving the county, but he once again appealed to the board to pass a resolution in favor of allowing the growth of industrial hemp in Montmorency County.
Although there is no ordinance in the county prohibiting growth of the plant, farmers need the support of local governments in order to apply to the state for a permit. It was the third time appealing to the board for support.
Swift said the Declaration of Independence provides that all men are created equal. Since some farmers in other states have obtained permits, he said rights of those here are being violated.
“Why is it that the Declaration of Independence does not apply to us?” Swift asked.
According to Swift, Terrie Case, county attorney, has incorrectly determined the growth of hemp is illegal. Case said she spent a number of hours researching the issue in all the times Swift has approached the board regarding permission to grow hemp.
Case said the Drug Enforcement Agency issued an opinion in 2003 that indicated hemp is a controlled substance.
“I have to follow the DEA rules,” Case said.
Instead of voting on Swift’s resolution, the board approved a letter to be provided to the state that acknowledges federal interpretation and states “…there is no ordinance in Montmorency County which would prohibit this agricultural endeavor should it be removed from the Schedule 1 controlled substance list.”
Industrial Hemp Proposal Not Acted On In Montmorency County
Posted: 1/28/2010
Montmorency County wants no part of one man's proposal to grow industrial hemp.
For the third time, the Board of Commissioners took no action at a meeting Wednesday.
The county chose not to support that.
See the article with Everett Swift from MichiganHemp.org at:
Montmorency County Man Wants To Grow Industrial Hemp |
In the Montmorency County TribunePay special attention to the bold text2010 Budget approved by County Board of Commissioners
- by Yvonne Swager
Some attending the public hearing on the county 2010 budget at the county board meeting on Nov. 25 expressed concerns about next years sheriff department budget as well as the boards willingness to continue paying for a county administrator. Commissioner Tom Young, who chaired the meeting, opened the hearing by pointing out the sheriff department budget was increased about $30,000 compared to the previous year, but Sheriff Don Edwards later said funding for his day to day operations has been cut. "They talk about this big increase in the sheriff department. The big increase had to be in health insurance, because no wages went up," Edwards said. Though the overall budget reflects an increase, he said funding for mandatory transports of inmates was cut and he’ll have to take money from his fuel budget to make it up. Some at the hearing said the sheriff department merits more funding, including Dan Albrecht, operations manager for Tri-Township Ambulance Service, who said waiting for law enforcement to show up at emergency scenes puts people’s lives at risk. Others indicated unnecessary funding is being spent on the county administrator. Diane Barbeau, support specialist in the prosecutor’s office, took some personal time to address the board regarding the administrator. Barbeau said it was her understanding the board had eliminated the position of county coordinator in an effort to save the county $54,000. Since then, she said the coordinator’s assistant has been given the title of administrator, a raise and an assistant who has received a raise. She estimated the population of Montmorency to be one-third that of Alpena County, and reminded the board there is no need for a coordinator or administrator in Alpena. Barbeau said she had been cut to part-time in February after being told the cut would be temporary. She questioned when she would be reinstated to full-time and why other positions continue to be created in the meantime. "I implore this board to stop taking for granted the resourceful, efficient and dedicated employees of this county," Barbeau said. "If you need to make cuts, make them fairly and show no favoritism." Also discussed at the meeting was whether the county should support hemp farming in Montmorency County. Everett Swift, farmer from Hillman, asked the board to support hemp farming so he can influence the state to allow permits for the growth of hemp. Board members were reluctant to do so because of some confusion regarding the difference between industrial hemp and marijuana. Swift assured board members hemp has low THC levels, cannot be used as a recreational drug and looks different than marijuana. He also explained why it would be non-productive to try to hide marijuana plants inside a hemp field. Hemp is used to make an estimated 25,000 products ranging from clothing to plastic automotive door panels. Bruce Hartdegen, hemp supporter, said this country is missing out on a productive cash crop because of lack of knowledge. "The U.S. is the largest importer of hemp in the world. It’s ridiculous we have to import," Hartdegen said. John Zollars, Briley Township Supervisor, said it wasn’t the first time Swift had gone before the county board to appeal for support, and the lack of knowledge on the part of the board members was inexcusable. "I think it’s up to you fellows and ladies to look at this stuff when someone’s coming before the board and asking about a decision," Zollars said. "Apparently, you haven’t done your homework." According to Zollars, 15 minutes of Internet research would reveal millions and millions of dollars of hemp is being imported into Michigan for manufacturing processes. "Industrial hemp is a perfect plant that would grow here in Montmorency County soil," he said. "The state is never going to be up to this until the counties and other local governments put some pressure on the state to let them know this is a viable industrial crop." |
