Enlarge By Will Kincaid, The Bismarck Tribune, via AP Wayne Hauge, left, and Dave Monson discuss their lawsuit Wednesday in Bismarck, N.D., seeking to make hemp legal. Two North Dakota farmers will ask a federal appeals court in St. Paul on Wednesday to allow them to grow hemp on their farms, even though the federal government says it's illegal. Farmer Dave Monson, a Republican representative in the North Dakota Legislature, says the variety of the cannabis sativa plant grown as hemp is an ideal crop to rotate annually with wheat and barley. Canadian farmers 20 miles north of his Osnabrock farm do a brisk business selling their hemp to Detroit carmakers who use it inside door panels and for insulation in seats, he says. Monson says the hemp has no value as a drug because it has a low concentration of THC, the ingredient in marijuana that causes a high. Hemp fibers, oil and seed can be imported from Canada, Europe and Asia and used to manufacture products in the USA, but growing hemp in the USA is illegal, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says. "The level of THC in the plant doesn't matter. If there's any THC in the plant, it's illegal," DEA spokesman Garrison Courtney says. "To get those pieces of stalk that are legal, you have to grow a marijuana plant." David Bronner, president of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps in Escondido, Calif., says he spends more than $100,000 a year to import hemp oil from Canada for his soaps, lip balms and lotions. "I think the market has explosive potential," Bronner says. "As soon as hemp goes into the ground here, it'll be a massive boost. If you look at Canada, where they don't have this draconian, absurd drug policy, there's mass penetration of hemp into the market." The farmers sued the DEA in June 2007. They are backed by the North Dakota Legislature, Gov. John Hoeven, a Republican, and the state agriculture department. In 1999, the Legislature passed a law allowing farmers to grow hemp, and a licensing process was finalized in December 2006, Monson says. On Nov. 28, 2007, U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland in Bismarck, N.D., dismissed the case. The farmers appealed, hoping for a ruling that hemp "is not subject to regulation by the DEA and that our farmers aren't going to be charged with a crime," says Tim Purdon, a Bismarck lawyer who represents the farmers. "It's really frustrating for these farmers to look across the border and see Canadian farmers growing it and making a living from it," he says. The district judge should not have dismissed the case without hearing evidence about the differences between hemp and marijuana, adds Washington lawyer Joe Sandler, who will argue the farmers' case before the appeals court. The lawsuit is funded by Vote Hemp, a Washington lobbying group that seeks to legalize hemp farming. The group has spent about $100,000 on the lawsuit, says spokesman Adam Eidinger. Wayne Hauge, the other farmer who brought the lawsuit, says farming hemp won't lead to legalizing marijuana. "I personally have never smoked marijuana and don't want to," says Hauge, whose Ray, N.D., farm is about 60 miles from the Canadian border in the western part of the state. "That's a different agenda. I want to grow this crop for its economic value." Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more