{"id":2314,"date":"2020-10-07T16:39:58","date_gmt":"2020-10-07T21:39:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=2314"},"modified":"2020-10-07T16:42:07","modified_gmt":"2020-10-07T21:42:07","slug":"native-sun-news-today-tribes-make-final-push-for-industrial-hemp-rule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2020\/10\/07\/native-sun-news-today-tribes-make-final-push-for-industrial-hemp-rule\/","title":{"rendered":"Native Sun News Today: Tribes make final push for industrial hemp rule"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=row><div class=col-md-7><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"744\" height=\"1162\" data-attachment-id=\"2317\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2020\/10\/07\/native-sun-news-today-tribes-make-final-push-for-industrial-hemp-rule\/alexwhiteplume-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/alexwhiteplume.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"744,1162\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-title=\"alexwhiteplume\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/alexwhiteplume-656x1024.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/alexwhiteplume.jpg\" alt=\"alexwhiteplume\" class=\"alignnone img-fluid wp-image-2317\" \/><\/div><div class=\"col-md-5 align-self-end\"><figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">\r\nAlex White Plume, right,  peers out over his 2020 hemp crop on the  Pine Ridge   Reservation  in South Dakota. White Plume, a citizen of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, is a pioneer in the hemp industry in Indian Country. Photo courtesy Lance Martin<\/figcaption><\/div><\/div>\r\n<div class=\"h3-responsive font-weight-bold\">Tribes demand level field for hemp production<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"date\">Wednesday, October 7, 2020<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"byline\">By Talli Nauman<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"source\">Native Sun News Today Health & Environment Editor<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"source-website\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nativesunnews.today\/\">nativesunnews.today<\/a><\/div>\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nPINE RIDGE, South Dakota &#8212; Tribes across the country, embittered that federal rulemaking deprived them of a 2019 hemp growing season, are bracing for results of a <a href=https:\/\/www.federalregister.gov\/documents\/2020\/09\/08\/2020-17659\/establishment-of-a-domestic-hemp-production-program-comment-period-reopened>comment period on legalization that ends October 8<\/a>.<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cWe are making final comments this week. We\u2019ll have them by Wednesday,\u201d Oglala Sioux Tribe Hemp Commission Executive Director Scott Weston told the Native Sun News Today.<P><\/P>\r\nCongress authorized commercial hemp production two years ago, removing the crop from the controlled substance list in the <a href=https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2018\/12\/12\/indian-country-makes-final-push-for-farm.asp>2018 Farm Bill<\/a> and directing the Agricultural Marketing Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to cooperate with the Justice Department\u2019s Drug Enforcement Administration to establish the details of regulations.<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cWe\u2019re supportive of any measures that will help our growers,\u201d Oglala Sioux Tribe Lead In-House Counsel Jennifer Bear Eagle said. \u201cOur comments really are looking to give more flexibility to tribes and to come up with our own rules and regulations,\u201d she told the Native Sun News Today.<P><\/P>\r\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">This Thursday, October 8th is the deadline for public comments regarding the U.S. Department of Agriculture <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/USDA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@USDA<\/a> Interim Final Rule (IFR) on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/hemp?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#hemp<\/a> production. <br><br>Have your say and send your feedback directly to the federal registry using our online portal: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/fzbEdyjW2q\">https:\/\/t.co\/fzbEdyjW2q<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/HiFXdUcvgj\">pic.twitter.com\/HiFXdUcvgj<\/a><\/p>&mdash; US Hemp Roundtable (@HempRoundtable) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HempRoundtable\/status\/1313526449295577089?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 6, 2020<\/a><\/blockquote> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nThe Oglala Sioux Tribe, like many others, has adopted its own regulations on licensing for people who want to grow hemp. The USDA, in turn, is supposed to approve <a href=https:\/\/www.ams.usda.gov\/rules-regulations\/hemp\/state-and-tribal-plan-review>tribal programs for the product<\/a>. <P><\/P>\r\nHemp is a versatile commodity that is ideal for a plethora of purposes, including resins, fabric, rope, paper, construction materials, fuel, food, cosmetics, and health aids such as cannabidiol or CBD.<P><\/P>\r\nHemp goes by the Latin taxonomy of <em>Cannabis sativa<\/em>, just like marijuana, but the two are genetically distinct forms of the species, a fact the federal government refused to recognize for 72 years, until the 2018 Farm Bill amended the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946, making growth and possession of hemp and hemp seeds legal now for the first time in a generation.<P><\/P>\r\nThe amendment also declares, \u201cNo state or Indian tribe shall prohibit the transportation or shipment of hemp or hemp products\u2026.\u201d<P><\/P>\r\nThe Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe was the first of the 574 federally recognized tribal governments to institute commercial licensing to grow the crop. It sued Secretary Sonny Perdue and his Agriculture Department for failing to act on its federal approval request. The tribe asked the court to declare itself in favor of pursuing the hemp plan.<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cThe Secretary\u2019s failure to act on the tribe\u2019s plan, or acknowledge that the tribe can proceed under the authorities of the Agricultural Marketing Act, is today threatening the tribe with a loss of jobs, income for irreplaceable tribal services like timely police protection, timely delivery of health care services, burial assistance, timely delivery of food and nutrition for families, and other essential governmental functions,\u201d Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe Attorney General Seth Pearman stated in the May 23, 2019, complaint.<P><\/P>\r\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\u201cWe have more that are in the queue\u201d: Stephan Censky of Department of Agriculture tells National Congress of American Indians of 7 tribal hemp plans that have been approved under the 2018 Farm Bill. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/ECWS2020?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#ECWS2020<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DepSecSteve?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@depsecsteve<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/USDA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@USDA<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NCAI1944?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@NCAI1944<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/60qdRycMwn\">pic.twitter.com\/60qdRycMwn<\/a><\/p>&mdash; indianz.com (@indianz) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/indianz\/status\/1227609858373017600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 12, 2020<\/a><\/blockquote> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><p><\/p>\r\nThe Secretary\u2019s inaction prohibited the tribe and other \u201ceconomically deprived tribes\u201d from entering the hemp market during the 2019 growing season, Pearman said. \u201cThis puts them at a distinct economic disadvantage to the non-Indian growers in approximately 41 states who are today cultivating and preparing to market their hemp products.\u201d<P><\/P>\r\nSouth Dakota Southern District U.S. District Judge Karen E. Shreier responded with an order to deny the tribe\u2019s request, because granting it would upset the status quo.<P><\/P>\r\nOn January  29, 2020, the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe filed testimony in the first of two rounds of tribal comment opened for the <a href=https:\/\/www.ams.usda.gov\/rules-regulations\/hemp>U.S. Domestic Hemp Production Program\u2019s Interim Final Rule<\/a> proposed in late 2019.<P><\/P>\r\nThe rule undermines Congress\u2019 intent to allow tribal and state government\u2019s ample leeway in initiating hemp governance, according to the tribe.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cIt does this by: (1) adding new unnecessary and overly burdensome conditions to many stated requirements, (2) imposing requirements which are almost impossible to meet, (3) adding requirements which increase the risk to hemp cultivators, and (4) inserting requirements that add substantially to the cost of production,\u201d Pearman submitted.<P><\/P>\r\nHis objection was similar to that of thousands of state, tribal and individual comments made in the process.<P><\/P><div class=\"mt-1 mb-1\"><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block; text-align:center;\" data-ad-layout=\"in-article\" data-ad-format=\"fluid\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-8411603009680747\" data-ad-slot=\"6394965691\"><\/ins><script>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/script><\/div><p><\/p>\r\nPatty Marks, a member of the tribe\u2019s legal team, explained that the maximum limit of 0.3-percent delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) that the Drug Enforcement Administration proposed to define hemp fails to recognize a massive body of scientific findings that establish small higher variances in percentage in a crop are within the bounds of non-psychotropic effects.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nThe measure of THC composition being used in the regulations is \u201cvery conservative and doesn\u2019t allow for differentiation,\u201d she told the Native Sun News Today.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nLike corn and tomato crops, hemp crops can vary considerably from one case to another, she said: It\u2019s like the difference between livestock feed corn and sweet corn, or the difference between slicer tomato and paste tomato varieties.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nThe DEA wants to make things \u201cas difficult as humanly possible\u201d for tribes to grow hemp, and tribes just need \u201cpractical\u201d provisions to manage the industry, she said.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n<div class=\"card mb-3\">\r\n  <div class=\"row\">\r\n    <div class=\"col-md-4\">\r\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nativesunnews.today\/\">\r\n\t\t  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2016\/09\/12\/nativesunnewstoday.png\" class=\"img-fluid\" alt=\"native sun news today\"\/>\r\n\t\t<\/a>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"col-md-8\">\r\n      <div class=\"card-body\">\r\n        <h5 class=\"card-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nativesunnews.today\/\">NATIVE SUN NEWS TODAY<\/a><\/h5>\r\n        <p>\r\n           Support Native media!\r\n        <\/p>\r\n\t\t<p>Read the rest of the story on Native Sun News Today: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nativesunnews.today\/articles\/tribes-demand-level-field-for-hemp-production\/\">Tribes demand level field for hemp production<\/a>\r\n\t\t<\/p>\r\n\t\t<p>\r\n\t\t\t<div class=\"source-links\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nativesunnews.today\/\"><i class=\"fas fa-link fa-xs\"><\/i> nativesunnews.today<\/a>\r\n&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/nsweekly\"><i class=\"fab fa-facebook fa-xs\"><\/i> nsweekly<\/a>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\t\t<\/p>  \r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n<HR><EM>Contact Talli Nauman at talli.nauman@gmail.com<\/em><HR>\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n<strong>Note: Copyright permission <A href=\"https:\/\/www.nativesunnews.today\/\">Native Sun News Today<\/A><\/strong>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Comments are due on a final rule that tribes and their advocates say makes it more difficult for them to grow hemp on their 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