Posted August 25, 2000
Special to MarijuanaNews

If there is anything that could perfectly illustrate the
“celebrity-driven” nature of our culture and news media, it would be the
difference in news coverage of these two stories about hemp.

All of the media, even the New York Times, carried reports on Woody Harrelson
being acquitted by a jury after only half an hour’s deliberation, but I have not yet
been able to find any reports on the DEA raid on the Sioux nation.

I spoke this afternoon with Tom Ballanco, an attorney for both Harrelson and
the Sioux – as well as for the late Peter McWilliams. Tom is one of the most
dedicated attorneys in the marijuana resistance movement. (I also interviewed Tom on the
420 MarijuanaNews on Pot-TV.net.) He provided the details.

Yesterday morning, just as Ballanco and the other attorneys were preparing to
go to trial for Harrelson in Kentucky, they were called by the Sioux to tell them that DEA
agents had cut down their almost 2 acre hemp crop that had been planted last April. (See
the April press release below)

It would be an extraordinary coincidence if the DEA just happened to pick a day
when the attorneys would be in court in another state for their raid.

Of course, it was done in typical DEA fashion: A dozen or more heavily armed
agents — with weapons drawn — swarmed onto the Pine Ridge Reservation in a predawn
invasion of the Sioux nation. They were also equipped with a number of commercial weed
cutters, several of which were wrecked by the heavy hemp stalks. In any case, they cut
down all of the plants and hauled them off.

No prior notice of the raid was given.

The total number of plants was well in excess of 100,000, far more than enough
for a life sentence under current mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines. However, even
though a number of Sioux stood in the fields and claimed responsibility for the crop, the
DEA agents would not arrest anyone. Oddly, the DEA is only claiming a few thousand plants,
perhaps hoping to make this sound like a marijuana operation.
See

href=”http://marijuananews.com/news.php3?sid=196″>Drug Czar Seeks To Ban All Hemp Products

For the Sioux, this raid is an attack on their sovereignty, so it involves far
more than the loss of the hemp.

Nonetheless, it is important to undrstand that the Oglala Sioux are probably
the poorest people in DEAland. Their South Dakota reservation has an unemployment rate of
almost 80%. They also have terribly inadequate housing in an area with very severe
winters.

Last year President Clinton visited the reservation after a tornado destroyed
200 homes. He promised to help, and subsequently the federal government sent in 80 mobile
homes.

Yesterday’s raid, however, destroyed the Sioux’ ability to develop a
crop that might have made them self-sufficient. The first hemp harvest was to have been
used to make hemp bricks and other building materials for a home for an elderly tribe
member. So much for “help” from Bill Clinton. He not only makes war on the sick
and dying, but on the poorest of the poor.

The DEA is expected to seek court approval on Monday to destroy the crop, but
Ballanco and the other attorneys will attempt to block that action. If they are successful
in preventing the senseless destruction of the crop, then the DEA may have just saved the
Sioux from having to harvest the crop themselves.

In any case, this action against the Sioux is likely to be a long-term
political disaster for the DEA. It will unite all native Americans behind the Sioux. It
will be interesting to see how Gore and Bush react. Bush would do well to note that a
former Republican governor of Kentucky was on the Harrelson defense team.

August 25, 2000

Actor Woody Harrelson exonerated on Ky. hemp charge

BEATTYVILLE, Ky. (Reuters) - A Kentucky jury has dismissed a marijuana
possession charge against actor Woody Harrelson, who was arrested for planting hemp seeds
as part of a crusade to legalize the plant and help struggling farmers cultivate a new
cash crop, his lawyer said Friday.

Harrelson, best known for roles in the television sitcom ”Cheers” and in
movies such as “Natural Born Killers,” ceremoniously planted four hemp seeds in
rural Kentucky in 1996.

His defense said he was challenging a state law that makes no distinction
between marijuana and hemp, even though hemp contains little of the drug found in
marijuana and can be used to make a variety of industrial products.

Harrelson was immediately arrested and charged with a misdemeanor possession.

The Supreme Court of Kentucky, a state where growing marijuana, though illegal,
is a huge business, upheld a 1937 state law against growing hemp. It said the plant’s
similarity to the potent variety of cannabis put an undue burden on authorities trying to
root out growers.
(MarijuanaNews note: It is frightening to think about how much money
this nonsense cost the people of Kentucky, all because their Supreme Court thought that
their narks are too dumb to tell a hemp stalk from a marijuana plant.)
See

href=”http://www.marijuananews.com/marijuananews/cowan/kentucky_supreme_court_to_hear_o.htm”>Kentucky
Supreme Court To Hear Oral Arguments
In Woody Harrelson’s 4 Hemp Seed Crime Wave On October 14
COLOR=”#008000″>

The Lee County prosecutor said Harrelson’s stunt was punishable under the law,
which carries a penalty of up to a year in prison and a $500 fine. But after a one-day
trial, the six-person jury deliberated less than half an hour before
acquitting him Thursday.

“I think this demonstrates that at least six people (the jury) disagree
with our Supreme Court about what the law should be,” Harrelson’s attorney Charles Beal
said.

“Several jurors commented afterward that they thought the law was
absurd,” he added.

“But for now, at least, hemp is illegal under state law.”

Harrelson and others have argued that hemp, which was one of Kentucky’s leading
cash crops up to 50 years ago, would be a boon to farmers, particularly the many tobacco
growers in Kentucky whose traditional crop is becoming increasingly stigmatized.
See

href=”http://www.marijuananews.com/marijuananews/cowan/woody_harrelson_draws_a_crowd_at.htm”>Woody
Harrelson Draws A Crowd At Kentucky Hemp Debate; Great Journalism

Hemp can be used to make textiles, paper, soap and other products.
See

face=”arial,helvetica,sans-serif” size=”2″>Column In Pennsylvania Farm Community Calls For
Legalizing Hemp Cultivation
size=”1″>.

Former Republican Gov. Louie Nunn, a member of Harrelson’s defense team and a
hemp supporter, said Harrelson planted the seeds to challenge the law, not to break it. He
said there was no evidence that any of the seeds germinated into a thriving plant.
(MarijuanaNews note: Getting a former Republican governor involved
in the defense was a great move, that could have a real impact on the politics of hemp in
Kentucky.)
Reuters/Variety

Press Release Issued At Time of Planting.

Seeds of Sovereignty

Friends and Allies,

On Friday, April 14, Joe American Horse announced on KILI Radio that to be sovereign the
tribe must act sovereign, so accordingly, he will plant industrial hemp seeds on April 29
to advance the authority of the Oglala Sioux Tribe in the matter of jurisdiction over
tribal lands.

Stating the USA does not make treaties with ethnic minorities but only with other
sovereigns, American Horse said he is prepared to exercise the self-determination inherent
in the Oglala Sioux Tribe as successor government under the Treaty of 1868.

His press release follows.

Tom Cook, Project Director
Slim Butte Land-Use Association
Tel: 308-432-2290
Fax: 308-432-8981
E-mail: slmbttsag@bbc.net

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OGLALA SIOUX TRIBE TO PLANT INDUSTRIAL HEMP CROPS

WHEN: April 29, 2000
WHERE: Pine Ridge Reservation
WHO: Slim Butte Land Use Association/Kiza Tiospaye
WHAT: Tribal Members are implementing a Tribal Ordinance passed in 1998 that allows
cultivation of industrial hemp on the Reservation.

On Saturday April 29, 2000, the 132nd anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of 1868,
members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe will plant industrial hemp at various locations on the
Reservation. In July 1998, the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council passed an ordinance defining
industrial hemp as distinct from marijuana (which is a controlled substance under tribal
law). The ordinance provides for the cultivation and harvesting of industrial hemp on the
Reservation.

The Slim Butte Land Use Association, which spearheaded the effort to initiate industrial
hemp production on the Reservation, looks forward to the sustainable aspects of the crop.
“It is very important to us that we be able to grow a crop that allows us to live in
balance with Mother Earth,” says Loretta Afraid-of-Bear Cook, Chair of the Slim Butte
LUA, “Hemp does not require any chemicals and it allows us to start taking care of
our people ourselves.” The landowner association is in the latter stages of building
a house with materials primarily of industrial hemp. While lack of adequate housing is a
problem on most reservations, it is particularly challenging on Pine Ridge where tornadoes
and heavy winds frequently destroy homes. President Bill Clinton acknowledged the severity
of the housing shortage during his visit to Pine Ridge last summer, saying “There is
no more crucial building block for a strong community and a promising future than a solid
home.”

“Industrial hemp is the key component to sustainable housing,” said Tom Cook,
LUA Project Director for the house building project. “We make hemp-based concrete
that is lighter, stronger and easier to work with than masonry concrete,” he said,
“Not only that, but we are putting people to work here on the reservation with good
jobs.” The house building project has employed eight people, and the Slim Butte LUA
intends to market its “Hempcrete” blocks to the building industry. In addition,
the LUA seeks to set up a handmade paper making operation that will use parts of the hemp
that do not go into the block making.

“The people used to have the buffalo for our food, clothing and shelter,” said
Joe American Horse, Program Manager for Slim Butte LUA and former President of the Oglala
Sioux Tribal Council, “now hemp can do that for us.” American Horse, whose
grandfather was one of the signers of the Treaty of 1868, explains, “What we are
talking about is industrial hemp; it is not a drug. In addition to providing Lakota people
an economic base, the cultivation of industrial hemp will reduce our reliance on
diminishing natural resources and contribute to global ecological health. This is a way we
can help our people and our environment.” Currently, American Horse serves as the
Public Relations Officer for the Oglala Sioux Tribe.

When asked about the potential legal ramifications of the planting, Slim Butte LUA
attorney Thomas J. Ballanco said, “The right to cultivate industrial hemp on the
reservation is a secured treaty right. Hemp was grown all around here in the 1800s.”
Ballanco, a West Point graduate who authored the tribal ordinance expects no interference
from the federal government. “This issue does not concern the U.S. government. Here
we have a tribe exercising a sovereign treaty right to provide jobs, homes and
sustainability on the reservation.”

Commenting on fellow West Pointer, and federal Drug Czar, Gen. (Ret.) Barry
McCaffery¹s expected response, Ballanco said, “If they teach cavalry officers
anything at West Point, it is to listen to your scouts, especially in Sioux country,”
said Ballanco, himself a former Army scout. Making reference to West Pointer George Custer
who was wiped out along with his entire command in the battle of Little Bighorn after he
failed to listen to the scouts who warned him not to attack. “I advised the tribe and
the individual members that this a legally protected treaty right,” said Ballanco.
“If the General has a problem with this activity, then he can take that up with me
and not the tribe or its members.”

American Horse said he is following up on the last words Clinton told the Pine Ridge
people: “We are doing everything we can to make your empowerment zone work. But
remember, there is nothing that we can do except to help you to realize your own dreams.
So I say to every tribal leader here we must share the vision and it must be fundamentally
yours ­ for your children and their future. If you will give us that vision and work with
us, we will achieve it.”

10:00 a.m. 4/29 meet at hemp house in Slim Buttes, junction BIA routes 32 & 41.
Contact:
Loretta Afraid-of-Bear Cook, Slim Butte LUA President 308-432-2290
Tom Cook, Slim Butte LUA Project Director 308-432-2290
Milo Yellow Hair, Director Oglala Sioux Tribe Land Office, 605-867-5305
Joe American Horse, LUA Program Director & OST Liaison, 605-867-6071
Alex White Plume, Kiza Tiospaye, Wounded Knee District, 605-455-2155
Thomas J. Ballanco, Atty. 310-291-3659

Be sure and log on to www.pot-tv.net for the 420
MarijuanaNews with Richard Cowan weekdays at 4:20PM Pacific time. If
you miss any broadcasts, they are now available in the Archives.

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