Wonderful little Lompoc is no refuge from, let/s call it what it is, our present economic recession. Celite is in transition and our school system is facing budget cuts and lay-offs. As our economy continues to contract, farmers worry yet again about the amount of rain we have received this year.

Nonetheless, with a few creative, entrepreneurial pioneers there looms a major, widespread economic opportunity for our community. It is perfect serendipity in its fit with Lompoc. Here is a boom for agriculture with an opportunity for generating multiple light-support industries paying strong, competitive wages and engaging the talents of product developers, marketers, designers, as well as a rich use of our city wi-fi system. Could it be a new grape variety added to our buoyant, thriving wine industry? No, it is hemp.

If you shake your head and roll your eyes, then read no more as you are neither pioneer nor entrepreneur. You dwell in the past.

What is your judgment of the following parent? Child, BCan I have some grape juice?C Parent, BNo. You can/t have any wine.C Child, BSorry, I wanted grape juice.C Parent, BI know, but you see wine has alcohol in it.C Child, BOK, but I wanted grape JUICE.C Parent, BSweetheart, wine is grape juice. So, no. Please stop asking or you will be punished.C

Hemp has so little THC in it, the psychoactive component in marijuana, that it cannot be ingested in any manner to get the marijuana high. Yet, hemp cannot be grown commercially in the United States because the DEA, not the Department of Agriculture, seems unable to distinguish between grape juice and wine. As of the fall of >07, two North Dakota farmers have been tied up in federal court by the DEA as the farmers/ state issued, state condoned permit to grow industrial hemp was overridden by federal Judge Daniel Hovland. (see www.VoteHemp.com/legal_cases_ND.html watch the video.) However, things do not seem to be going well for the DEA as they face irritated farmers in North Dakota, Kentucky, Vermont, California, Oregon, and the list goes on.

While Europe is converting tens of thousands of acres to growing hemp, as is Canada, the United States remains the only major industrialized nation to prohibit the growing or processing of hemp. From the founding of Jamestown in 1607, in which residents were required to grow hemp, to the World War II BHemp for VictoryC program, the United States had made abundant use of hemp throughout its history. We/ve all heard how the Declaration of Independence was written on hemp paper as nearly all paper at the time came from hemp. Henry Ford even built a car out of hemp that could run on hemp oil.

From the whole hemp stalk come multiple textiles, industrial products, building materials and a wide variety of papers along with energy products such as ethanol, and the hemp version is supposedly cheaper than corn ethanol. From the hemp seed come hemp nuts, seed cakes, foods, body care products and many technical products such as paints, solvents, varnish, lubricants, diesel fuel and more. Hemp seeds even appear more nutritious, concerning omega 3, than fish oil. The list of products is rather astounding and the markets appear to be exponentially expanding.

Please go online to see some of the thriving hemp farms in Canada and Europe (www.Hempindustries.org). What a wonderful contribution to North County agriculture this could make. I hope that our city and county representatives get actively involved in educating our federal representatives and supporting our local farmers to tap into this billion dollar vital, vibrant, growing international and domestic market.

Economically difficult times are upon us and the end does not seem near. Let/s not confuse grape juice with wine.

At www.VoteHemp.com/legal_cases_ND.html you can watch a video of Roger Johnson, North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner, and you/ll realize the significant, unique, broad-based economic opportunities that exist for a community like Lompoc.

The hemp industry would probably dwarf our wine industry, not only in terms of agricultural acreage and income but in the number of auxiliary businesses it would generate and the number of additional employment opportunities.

A final note in dealing with the heavy case loads our law enforcement faces in the midst of shrinking budgets. Perhaps some cost savings can be found in a serious reassessment of our three decades of the Drug War. With approximately ,500 billion having now been spent nationally, with annual costs now approximately at ,21.38 billion, with 40,000 people in jail for marijuana possession (Lompoc/s population) and 700,000 arrested annually for possession, the number of Americans using illicit drugs has remained at about 15 percent of the population over the past 20 years. The National Drug Threat Assessment for 2008 has concluded that increases in domestic marijuana production, combined with the continued flow from abroad, point to a future of market saturation, which could reduce the price significantly (New Yorker 2/25/08).

Candidly, hasn/t the Attorney General/s office failed in its multibillion dollar decades-long war? Let/s take law enforcement out of the drug punishment business and turn over the drug health issue to the Surgeon General. If our local law enforcement agencies no longer had to focus on illegal drugs, as they no longer focused upon alcohol after Prohibition, what precisely would be the savings to their budget? After all, concerning the most addictive and toxic drug, tobacco, which the Surgeon General warned of so long ago, the smoking rate amongst U.S. adults has dropped from 42 percent in 1965 to less than 21 percent today.

If you respect the intelligence of the American public, then education should prove sufficient in their exercise of their rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Joe White is a long-time Lompoc resident who looks outside the box for solutions. BThe Forward ViewC is a progressive look at local issues that runs every Monday. For information, call 736-1897 or e-mail at: howerton62@aol.com.

June 16, 2008