Swedish Hemp farmer wins ten year battle for justice
A hemp farmer in Halland in western Sweden has won a 10 year battle in the Swedish and European courts, thanks to court ruling stating that his crop of Hemp was illegally seized by the Swedish state.
The story is an example of the ignorance still surrounding cannabis and hemp which are closely related plants except for one big difference – hemp does not contain active amounts of THC or any other narcotic ingredient and is therefore not a drug plant.
Nevertheless the farmer’s application to grow hemp for medicinal purposes was rejected by the Swedish ‘Medical Products Agency’ (Läkemedelsverket) in 2000 (hemp oil is of great nutritional value and helps to heal wounds).
The agency based its judgement on Swedish narcotics legislation, but the man received the backing of his local county administrative court which remitted the matter. The agency subsequently rejected the man’s application in April 2001.
In May 2001, the EU Commission established that a ban against the industrial production of hemp was not consistent with union law. But the Swedish ‘Ministry of Health and Social Affairs’ refused to budge arguing that national law superseded union law.
However on four occasions in 2001, the police then seized harvested hemp from the man, who was then suspected of serious drugs offences.
In October of the same year, the prosecutor asked permission from the court to confiscate the seized hemp. But the court sought the advice of the EU court, which in January 2003 found against the Swedish authorities. In March 2003 the confiscation order was revoked.
The man then approached the Swedish Justice Chancellor and asked for 35,000-40,000 kronor in damages for seven tonnes of destroyed hemp.
However the Chancellor has now calculated that a reasonable compensation is just 10,000 kronor …
While industrial hemp is cultivated from the plants of the Cannabis genus, it is a durable, soft fibre used for manufacturing products such as paper, textiles, biodegradable plastics, health food and fuel. It requires few pesticides and no herbicides and is one of the fastest growing biomasses on earth.