Archive for the 'hemp' Category

06
Jul

The drug war comes to Pine Ridge

In 2000, Alex White Plume and his family had a great idea. After attempts to raise alfalfa, barley and corn on the tough soil of South Dakota’s Pine Ridge reservation, they decided to give industrial hemp a try.

Hemp is not marijuana.

Hemp has less than 1% THC, has over 25,000 uses, and is a hearty and relatively easy crop to grow. Buying hemp products in the US is totally and completely legal. Growing hemp, however, is not.
The White Plumes figured that, since their reservation is sovereign land, they would be able to grow hemp without the intrusion of the government. The DEA had other ideas.

Read more about their struggle in this NY Times article, and check out the website for the PBS series P.O.V, and the filmmakers own site.

Bonus hilarious video. Bush tries, in vain, to define sovereignty. What an idiot.




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