This is a tremendous effort that needs given it's due!

I haven't seen it BUT just looking at the website cheered me up considerably. As you may know (if you've ever really invested any time reading this blog), I am truly against the criminalization of POT, but more PARTICULARLY PRO the cultivation of HEMP.

The other thing I am "into" and hope I can give you the information to get you INVOLVED, is to show how wonderful it would be if poor reserves and reservations could make hemp growing a regular feature of their ECONOMIC GROWTH.

The LAST THING I ever expected to see was a great documentary on the topic, let alone a FANTASTIC WEBSITE on this topic . but there ya go! There certainly is one.

While I have stripped some of the bits I thought were really relevant to THIS blog, there is a TON MORE INFORMATION available and I was remiss not encouraging you to go and have a look!

So, here it is .. some cheerleading .. go have a look!!

http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2007/standing.

And one day when you have some time, really take a couple of hours and go through these amazing resources and begin to see what we must do to get some economic JUSTICE accomplished and learn what this amazing plant can do!

Many MANY thanks to pbs!

veeger

Standing Silent Nation" chronicles the efforts of Alex White Plume and his family to develop a sustainable economy on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Because the land is unsuitable for most crops, they put their hopes in industrial hemp, a hardy fiber crop with a booming global demand for its many products.

Commonly confused with marijuana, hemp is an easy-to-grow plant whose stalks, seeds and oil can be used to produce a range of goods, including food, body-care products, clothing, rope, paper and biofuel.

Hemp was grown by the United States' "founding fathers," and its cultivation in the U.S. was first complicated by tax and licensing regulations imposed by the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act. During World War II, when foreign hemp supply lines were blocked, the federal government launched a "Hemp for Victory" campaign (watch video) that encouraged farmers to cultivate the crop once again. About a million acres of hemp were grown across the Midwest, but the processing plants were quietly shut down after the war, and the industry faded away.

Hemp growing continues in much of the rest of the world, but it is restricted in the United States because, like marijuana, it is in the Cannabis sativa plant family. However, while marijuana contains as much as 20 percent Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the plant's chief intoxicant, hemp can be bred to contain as little as 0.3 percent — not enough to produce a psychoactive effect.

There are currently more than 25,000 identified uses for industrial hemp, and importation of the plant (the stalk and roots) and hemp products is legal. The United States imports more than $1.3 million worth of hemp products from other nations that regulate hemp production each year. U.S. retail sales of these goods are now estimated to be between $250 million and $300 million annually.

FILM: This lesson plan is designed to be used in conjunction with the film "Standing Silent Nation," which documents the struggles of an Oglala Lakota family to grow industrial hemp on their South Dakota reservation as a means of earning a sustainable living after other crops had failed on their land. This lesson will explore U.S. policies related to hemp, as well as the relationship of the U.S. government to indigenous nations.

P.O.V. documentaries can be taped off the air and used for educational purposes for up to one year from the initial broadcast. In addition, P.O.V. offers a lending library of DVDs and VHS tapes that you can borrow anytime during the school year — FOR FREE!

OBJECTIVES:

By the end of this lesson, students will:

• Use viewing skills and note-taking strategies to understand and interpret a video clip.
• Work in groups to research a debate question and develop a three-minute presentation.
• Present their arguments and supporting evidence in an oral presentation, and then respond to a challenge question posed by the teacher.

GRADE LEVEL: 7-12

SUBJECT AREAS: U.S. History, Current Events, Geography, Civics

MATERIALS:

• Computers with Internet access.
• Handout: Viewing Guide (PDF file)
• Method (varies by school) of showing the class a video clip from the P.O.V. Web site for Standing Silent Nation, or a copy of the film and a VHS/DVD player and monitor.

ESTIMATED TIME NEEDED: Two 50-minute class periods

SUGGESTED CLIPS:

Introducing the issues (just after the film's title) In: 4:50, Shot of bridge with text: "St. Louis, Missouri, December 12, 2005" Out: 18:06, "… there's next year."

Watch Clip Online (13 minutes)

BACKGROUND:

"Standing Silent Nation" chronicles the efforts of Alex White Plume and his family to develop a sustainable economy on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Because the land is unsuitable for most crops, they put their hopes in industrial hemp, a hardy fiber crop with a booming global demand for its many products.

Commonly confused with marijuana, hemp is an easy-to-grow plant whose stalks, seeds and oil can be used to produce a range of goods, including food, body-care products, clothing, rope, paper and biofuel.

Hemp was grown by the United States' "founding fathers," and its cultivation in the U.S. was first complicated by tax and licensing regulations imposed by the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act. During World War II, when foreign hemp supply lines were blocked, the federal government launched a "Hemp for Victory" campaign (watch video) that encouraged farmers to cultivate the crop once again. About a million acres of hemp were grown across the Midwest, but the processing plants were quietly shut down after the war, and the industry faded away.

Hemp growing continues in much of the rest of the world, but it is restricted in the United States because, like marijuana, it is in the Cannabis sativa plant family. However, while marijuana contains as much as 20 percent Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the plant's chief intoxicant, hemp can be bred to contain as little as 0.3 percent — not enough to produce a psychoactive effect.

There are currently more than 25,000 identified uses for industrial hemp, and importation of the plant (the stalk and roots) and hemp products is legal. The United States imports more than $1.3 million worth of hemp products from other nations that regulate hemp production each year. U.S. retail sales of these goods are now estimated to be between $250 million and $300 million annually.

ACTIVITY:

1. Do an Internet search for images of hemp products. (Alternatively, bring to class examples of hemp lotions, string, paper, clothing, etc.) Show students the variety of products and explain that they are all made with a form of Cannabis sativa, called "hemp." Unlike marijuana, though, this form of Cannabis sativa contains very small levels of THC, the chemical in marijuana that produces a psychoactive effect. Point out that while hemp products are legal in the United States, growing hemp is illegal because it is a form of Cannabis sativa and U.S. law does not distinguish it from marijuana.

2. Pass out the Viewing Guide and tell students that you are going to show them a brief video clip that will introduce them to an American Indian family who wants to grow hemp on their reservation. Then show the clip.

3. After watching the video, explain that the class is going to debate the question, "Should the White Plumes be allowed to grow industrial hemp?" Put students in groups of four or five and determine which side of the question each group will argue (agricultural and economic sustainability, tribal sovereignty or the war on drugs, for example)

4. Each group will then research its position and prepare a three-minute presentation that introduces the group's viewpoint, clearly identifies and describes its principal argument and provides examples that support the argument. To assist with research, students can use their notes from the video clip, extended interviews from the "Standing Silent Nation" website, sites from the Resources section below and other information sources.

5. Explain that after each group's presentation, you will ask a question challenging their position, and they will have one minute to respond. Point out that students will need to be well prepared so that they can mount a rebuttal. Groups should also consider what fair question a person from the opposite viewpoint might legitimately ask.

6. Allow an appropriate amount of research and preparation time for your students, and then have each group give its presentation and respond to your challenge question in class.

EXTENSIONS & ADAPTATIONS:

• Study the Industrial Hemp Farming Act (HR 3037), a bill introduced in Congress that would remove restrictions on cultivating non-psychoactive industrial hemp on United States farms. Then have students share their views on this bill with their members of Congress. In their letters, students should include research points from the lesson activity to support their perspectives.
• Conduct research to gather information for a timeline of hemp production and restriction in the United States. Have students begin with the founding fathers who grew hemp (e.g., George Washington, Thomas Jefferson) and continue their timeline up to the present day. Be sure they include the "Hemp for Victory" program and legislation that later restricted growing hemp in the United States.
• Host a film festival that features American Indian issues. In addition to "Standing Silent Nation," the festival could include the P.O.V. films "In the Light of Reverence" and "Boomtown."
• Learn more about Native American cultures by visiting a museum or culture center in your state. Find out what is available in your area from the "Native America Near You" feature on the P.O.V. website.
• Create definitions of "tribal sovereignty" from the perspectives of both the U.S. government and the Oglala Lakota. Have students find out in their research what treaties and government leaders have said related to tribal sovereignty and identify what limitations there have been on such independent governance. To help with research, students can watch "Standing Silent Nation" in its entirety, tap the related resources on the P.O.V. website, access the sites in the Resources list below and track down other related materials. Then, discuss as a class how sovereign indigenous people should be, using research data to support conclusions.
• Design and display a comic strip or political cartoon that speaks to the growing of industrial hemp in the U.S. or issues related to the U.S. government's relationship with indigenous groups.
• Produce a brochure, slide presentation, podcast or other media message that educates people at school and in the community about the issues addressed in this lesson.

RESOURCES:

USA Today: Two farmers suing DEA over right to grow hemp
Two North Dakota farmers who want to grow hemp are filing a federal lawsuit today to challenge the Drug Enforcement Administration's ban on the plant that is the same species that produces marijuana. (June 17, 2007)

Vote Hemp
This nonprofit organization advocates changing the U.S. law to allow for the cultivation and sale of industrial hemp. The website includes basic information about hemp as well as a timeline of the White Plume case and links to corresponding legal documents and news coverage.

The Hemp Industries Association
This nonprofit trade association represents hemp companies, researchers and supporters. Resources on the site include a country-by-country summary of hemp policies around the world and information the pending Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2007 (H.R. 1009).

Department of Justice's Drug Enforcement Agency
The website of the Department of Justice's Drug Enforcement Agency includes the text of the Controlled Substance Act. Search for "hemp" to find news reports and policy statements relevant to the White Plume case.

USA Today: 'Industrial' hemp support takes root
Led by David Monson, a conservative Republican legislator and farmer, North Dakota's legislature has passed laws to make hemp farming legal — if the U.S. government ever allows it. This article summarizes the growing popularity for hemp products, and the fight to legalize hemp growing in the U.S. (November 22, 2005)

Hemp for Victory
Watch the film produced by the United States Department of Agriculture in 1942 that outlines its plans to distribute 400,000 pounds of cannabis seeds to American farmers with the goal of producing 350,000 acres of hemp by 1943 — all for the war effort.

BACKGROUND SOURCES:

"Bird Food Is a Casualty of the War on Drugs." Christopher S. Wren. The New York Times, October 3, 1999.

"Hemp and Marijuana: Myths and Realities." David P. West, Ph.D. North American Industrial Hemp Council.

"Hemp is Hip, Hot, and Happening, So Why Are American Farmers Being Left Out?" Special advertising section in Utne Reader, September-October 2004. Sponsored by hempindustries.org: www.thehia.org

"Industrial Hemp: Global Markets and Prices." Valerie Vantreese. University of Kentucky, Department of Agricultural Economics, 1997. http://www.votehemp.com/PDF/hemp97.pdf

Introduction of the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2007

"The Hemp Vote." Mark Leibovich. The New York Times, February 20, 2007.