David Bronner imprisoned himself in a cage in front of the White House to protest the federal ban on growing industrial hemp in the U.S. He eats breakfast from his hemp plants as a demonstration. The Obama administration responded to a petition to legalize hemp with a brief letter refusing to change the policy, citing public health concerns. They maintain that all cannabis plants, including hemp, contain THC and are therefore banned. Advocates were disappointed, as the U.S. continues to import hemp while prohibiting domestic farming.

1. The Politics of Hemp by Josh Davis
The tall man in the
cage sat down for breakfast
on June 11, 2012. It was 8:15 in
the morning and he was hungry.
He bent down and harvested
seeds from the twelve industrial
hemp plants that stood next
to him. Gathering them up, he
used a hand press to extract
the nutritional oil within. As the
sunlight crested over the tops of
buildings, he spread the hemp
oil across the organic sprouted
whole-wheat toast, topped it with a
slice of organic tomato, a dash of
salt and pepper and began to eat.
Gazing out through the bars of his
cell, he looked past the sidewalk
and across the lawn to the big
white house in the center of the
yard. From his homemade prison
he wondered if President Obama
was eating breakfast too.
national outreach coordinator for the advocacy group Vote
David Bronner’s self-imprisonment in front of the White Hemp, garnered 28,856 signatures. Like its title, “Allow
House (pictured above) on that warm summer morning Industrial Hemp to be Grown in the U.S. Once Again,” it was
was a bold statement of civil disobedience in the face of a short, sweet and to the point.
frustrating federal regulation prohibiting U.S. farmers the
right to grow industrial hemp. Last year, his company, Dr. Sadly, so was the reply: no way. The White House’s official
Bronner’s Magic Soap’s, had no choice but to import over response, which was penned by current Obama drug czar
$100,000 worth of hemp oil, a key ingredient utilized in their and former Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske, came
popular soaps, from Canada because American farmers are seven full months later. It was four sentences long and was
forbidden by federal law from growing this multi-purpose, titled, “What We Have to Say About Marijuana and Hemp
environmentally friendly crop. Production.” In it, Kerlikowske blames hemp’s illegality on its
THC content, “While most of the THC in cannabis plants is
A large picture of President Obama smiling in front of a concentrated in the marijuana, all parts of the plant including
sea of industrial hemp plants topped Bronner’s homemade hemp, can contain THC, a Schedule 1 controlled substance.”
cage, which had been driven to the front of the White House He goes on to warn the public of hemp’s harmful potential.
and parked on the back of a trailer. The sign read: Dear Mr. “The Administration,” Kerlikowske writes, “will continue
President Let U.S. Farmers Grow Hemp. While the DC Fire looking for innovative ways to support farmers across the
Department sawed away at the cage’s reinforced bars, David country while balancing the need to protect public health and
touted hemp and its myriad uses through a loudspeaker and safety.”
asked the question, “Why is hemp still illegal?”
Tom Murphy felt dazed and confused after reading the
Politics response. “I was stunned and stunned in not a good way,” he
remarked. “The Obama administration said before they were
President Obama, who according to his official schedule elected and early on in the administration they were going to
was home that morning, did not come out to greet David be basing policy decisions on science and this was based on
or answer his questions. However, in a way, he already emotion and rhetoric.” Though the White House’s response
had. In April of this year the White House responded to a to the petition was not what Murphy and the thousands of
petition about industrial hemp that had been created on their signers had hoped for, it certainly wasn’t unexpected in light
“We The People” website which allows a petition to get an of the federal government’s turbulent relationship with hemp.
“official response” if it receives at least 25,000 signatures.
The petition, which was penned by Tom Murphy who is the
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