A North Dakota farmer serving in the North Dakota state legislature as a Republican has submitted the paperwork needed to make himself the nation's first industrial hemp producer. Rep. David Monson (R-Osnabrock) filed an application with the state's Agriculture Department to cultivate about 10 acres of the crop. Included in his application were his fingerprints, and $37 to cover the cost of a criminal background check.

Advocates of industrial hemp production laud the crop for its wide-ranging industrial applicability - which ranges from nutrition to paper products to textiles - as well as the relatively low environmental impact of its production. Industrial hemp, advocates say, has a low need for chemical pesticides, produces more paper pulp per acre and more quickly than do trees, and can replace most petrochemical products.

A 2003 Agriculture Canada report outlines industrial hemp's capabilities.

"Hemp’s remarkable advantages are hard to beat: it thrives without herbicides, it reinvigorates the soil, it requires less water than cotton, it matures in three to four months, and it can yield four times as much paper per acre as trees. Hemp can be used to create building materials that are twice as strong as wood and concrete, textile fiber that is stronger than cotton, better oil and paint than petroleum, clean-burning diesel fuel, and biodegradable plastics. In addition, it can produce more digestible protein per acre than any other food source. These advantages are in tune with the environmental and health preferences of today’s North American public. The growing curiosity of consumers, the interest shown by farmers and processors, and Canada’s excellent growing conditions for industrial hemp allow optimistic views for its future."

For more information - from advocates - on industrial hemp, click here or here.

North Dakota was the first state in the nation to allow the cultivation of the crop - which does not share the hallucination-inducing properties of its non-industrial cousin - and has since been joined by Hawai'i, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Montana and West Virginia. In 2006, California legislators outlined and passed provisions to allow industrial hemp production, but the law was vetoed by Gov. Schwarzenegger, who cited the crop's illegality under federal law.

The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) classifies industrial hemp as a Schedule 1 controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, which places it alongside PCP, crystal meth, and quaaludes. Monson has also submitted an application to the DEA, along with a steep non-refundable, annual registration fee of $2,293, in order to gain the agency's ok. Though North Dakota's law is designed with the DEA's position in mind, Monson is in no way guaranteed a green-light from the agency.

The DEA's response to Monson's appeal is being watched by agribusiness leaders and hemp advocates, and may spark a state's rights challenge.