DEA Stunts Growth of NDSU's Industrial Hemp Research

From: Farm and Ranch Guide:
Wednesday, April 22, 2009

D.C. Coston, vice-president for Agri-culture and University Extension at NDSU, said they haven't found the funding yet to start a research plot.

“We're searching for a sponsor to get the structure built,” Coston said last week. “I don't know if we'll be able to find funding sources in time to get it up this spring.”

He estimates it would cost from $80,000 to $90,000 to put in a couple of acres of field plots surrounded by the type of security the Drug Enforcement Administration requires.

The DEA notified NDSU in November 2007 it could begin research after a judge hearing oral arguments in an industrial hemp lawsuit brought my two North Dakota producers admonished the DEA for not acting on NDSU's request.

NDSU had sent the DEA an application in September 1999, after the North Dakota Legislature ordered NDSU to begin industrial hemp seed cultivation.

According to court documents, the DEA continued over the years to ask questions of Burton Johnson, NDSU associate professor of sunflower, minor, and new crop production, requesting such things as specifics on the security designs.

But Johnson never received any DEA approval after answering questions and submitting designs.

In 2003, NDSU submitted a request to the North Dakota Agricultural Products Utilization Commission (APUC) for fencing and security system funding and it was approved.

Court documents say DEA instructed Johnson to spend the funding, construct the fence and put the security measures in place. The DEA wanted to come out after all the security devices were in place to inspect it, but the agency refused to give NDSU the assurance that they would then allow the research.

The facility was never built, and the funds returned to APUC.

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