Graves is president of the 100-member Kentucky Hemp Growers Cooperative Association, which is a plaintiff in the suit. The profits of hemp cultivation have raised the interests of American farmers looking for new cash crops, particularly replacement crops for tobacco. We want to get the government out of the way between us and money. Graves and Craig Lee, executive director of Kentucky Industrial Hemp Association, said that Kentucky Hemp Growers signed a contingency contract with Mike Hart of Lexington Brewing Company, which makes Kentucky Hemp Beer. At the heart of the suit is the botanical difference between hemp and marijuana, said Lexington lawyer Burl McCoy, who helped prepare the suit.
Industrial hemp is one variety of the plant genus cannabis, and marijuana is another.
However, hemp is ineffective and unappealing as a recreational drug because it contains only a negligible fraction of the psychoactive ingredient, THC, that is typically abundant in marijuana. The lawsuit seeks a declaratory judgement that would define the rights and obligations of Kentucky farmers seeking to produce industrial hemp. In the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Lexington, the farmers contend Congress did not intend to outlaw hemp as it cracked down on marijuana. Plaintiffs allege that anti-hemp policies are the mistaken interpretation of the DEA and the U.S. Justice Department. The suit names those agencies and Attorney General Janet Reno as defendants.