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2 CapitalPress.com January 8, 2016 People & Places Ag chairman staunch defender of farming Jim Rice, a lawyer, sees importance of healthy agricultural industry in Idaho Capital Press Managers Mike O’Brien .............................Publisher Joe Beach ..................................... Editor Elizabeth Yutzie Sell .... Advertising Director Carl Sampson ................Managing Editor Barbara Nipp ......... Production Manager Samantha McLaren .... Circulation Manager Capital Press Entire contents copyright © 2016 EO Media Group dba Capital Press An independent newspaper published every Friday. Capital Press (ISSN 0740-3704) is published weekly by EO Media Group, 1400 Broadway St. NE, Salem OR 97301. Sean Ellis/Capital Press file Sen. Jim Rice, R-Caldwell and chairman of the Idaho Senate Agricultural Affairs Committee, has spoken out in defense of Treasure Valley irrigators in their battle with the state. Rice, an attorney, has earned a reputation as a staunch defender of agriculture. Western Innovator Sen. Jim Rice Position: Chairman of the Idaho Senate Agricultural Affairs Committee Profession: Attorney Background: Born in Concord, Calif., raised in Southwestern Idaho Education: Doctorate in law, William Howard Taft University Family: Wife, Trish, eight children, seven grandchildren with agriculture,” he said. “You don’t need to be doing a bunch of legislation about agriculture. In fact, if you do, you’re probably going to screw it up.” The 50-year-old lawyer was appointed to a Senate seat in March 2012 by Gov. Butch Otter. The upcoming legislative session will be his fourth full one, and he has served on the ag com- mittee every year. Rice said he welcomed the chance to chair the ag committee because “we need to make sure what we do from a policy standpoint doesn’t ... create problems for agriculture. ... It’s im- portant to get it right and keep it right and not get off into something that’s detri- mental to agriculture.” Rice said that if proposed legislation threatens to harm agriculture, he’s not afraid to use the chairman’s power to make sure it doesn’t go any- where. “If something is bad enough for agriculture that it needs to be retained in a drawer, it should be,” he said. “I think that’s one of the reasons you want an ag chair that really believes in defending agriculture. You don’t let attacks on agricul- ture get heard.” Rice has backed Trea- sure Valley irrigators in their battle with the state over how flood control releases from Boise River reservoirs should be accounted for, and he was also one of the lead- ing voices in defending the Idaho Agricultural Security Act. Food Producers of Idaho Executive Assistant Benja- min Kelly said Rice under- stands rural issues and has shown an appreciation for the challenges private land- owners face on a daily basis. “Our farmers and ranch- ers have always found him willing to listen to the spe- cific needs that face agri- culture as well as act as a sounding board in matters that affect the entire state,” Kelly said. Emerging from shadows, pot industry tries to build brands By KRISTEN WYATT Associated Press DENVER — Snoop Dogg has his own line of marijuana. So does Willie Nelson. Me- lissa Etheridge has a marijua- na-infused wine. As the fast-growing mari- juana industry emerges from the black market and starts looking like a mainstream industry, there’s a scramble to brand and trademark pot products. The celebrity endorse- ments are just the latest at- tempt to add cachet to a line of weed. Snoop Dogg calls his eight strains of weed “Dank From the Doggfather Himself.” Nelson’s yet-to-be- released line says the pot is “born of the awed memories of musicians who visited Wil- lie’s bus after a show.” The pot industry’s make- shift branding efforts, from celebrity names on boxes of weed to the many weed- themed T-shirts and stickers common in towns with a legal marijuana market, show the industry taking halting steps toward the mainstream. Problem is, those weed brands aren’t much more sub- stantial than the labels they’re printed on. Patents and trade- marks are largely regulated by the federal government, which considers marijuana an illegal drug and therefore ineligible for any sort of legal protection. The result is a Wild West environment of marijuana entrepreneurs trying to stake AP Photo/David Zalubowski LivWell store manager Carlyssa Scanlon shows off some of the products available in the marijuana line marketed by rapper Snoop Dogg in one of the marijuana chain’s outlets Dec. 18 south of downtown Denver. LivWell grows the Snoop pot alongside many other strains on its menu. claims and establish cross- state markets using a patch- work of state laws. Consumers have no way of knowing that celebrity-brand- ed pot is any different than what they could get in a plas- tic baggie from a corner drug dealer. “You can’t go into federal court to get federal benefits if you’re a drug dealer,” said Sam Kamin, a University of Denver law professor who tracks marijuana law. That doesn’t mean that the pot business isn’t trying. Hundreds of marijua- na-related patents have likely been requested from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, according to those who work in the industry. Exact num- bers aren’t available because pending patent information isn’t public. So far, federal authori- ties have either ignored or rejected marijuana patent and trademark requests, as in the 2010 case of a Cali- fornia weed-delivery service that applied to trademark its name, “The Canny Bus.” “They haven’t issued a single patent yet. But gener- ally speaking, there is broad agreement within the patent law community that they will,” said Eric Greenbaum, chief intellectual property of- ficer for Vireo Health, which is seeking a patent for a strain of marijuana to treat seizures. Companies like Vireo are betting that if marijuana be- comes legal nationally, they will be first in line to claim legal ownership of whichever type of marijuana they have tion Center. Cropping Systems Conference, Three Rivers Convention Center, Kennewick, Wash. already developed. Pot companies also are filing state-level trademarks, thereby avoiding the snag in a federal trademark appli- cation: the requirement that the mark is used in interstate commerce, which remains off-limits for pot companies. In Colorado, for example, there are nearly 700 trade names and 200 trademarks registered that include the word “marijuana” or a syn- onym, Kamin said. Pot producers also are claiming everything they can that doesn’t involve actual weed. So a marijuana compa- ny could trademark its logo or patent a process for pack- aging something, without mentioning that the “some- thing” is marijuana. The marijuana industry certainly has been on the re- ceiving end of legal threats from other companies that do have trademark and patent protection. Cease-and-desist letters aren’t uncommon in the mailboxes of marijuana companies, whether it’s for making a candy that looks like a non-intoxicating brand or for selling a type of pot that includes a trademarked word or phrase in its name. The Girl Scouts of the U.S.A., for example, says it has sent dozens of cease-and- desist letters to those selling a popular strain of pot known as Girl Scout Cookies or an- other called Thin Mints. “The use of our trade- marks in connection with drugs tarnishes the Girl Scouts name,” the organiza- tion says in the letter it has sent to pot sellers primarily in California, Colorado and Washington. Last year, Hershey Co. sued two marijuana compa- nies in Colorado and Wash- ington for selling “Reefer’s” peanut butter cups and “Dab- by Patty” candies, which re- sembled Hershey’s Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and York peppermint patties. Both pot companies agreed to stop selling the products and de- stroy any remaining inven- tory. But the industry can’t use those same laws to protect its own brands. “We’re in a new industry, where the benefits of feder- al protection aren’t open to us,” said John Lord, CEO of LivWell, a 10-store chain of Colorado marijuana shops that recently entered an agreement to sell Leafs By Snoop, the entertainer’s new line of marijuana. LivWell grows the Snoop pot alongside many oth- er strains but charges up to $175 more an ounce for the rapper’s brand, which is sold from behind a glittery in- store display. “Brand differentiation is the normal progression of events,” said Lord, who wouldn’t share sales figures on the Snoop pot but says its performance has been “out- standing.” “Consumers will see more and more of this in the fu- ture.” effect on livestock health. Thursday, Jan. 21 Calendar To submit an event go to the Community Events calendar on the home page of our website at www. capitalpress.com and click on “Sub- mit an Event.” Calendar items can also be mailed to Capital Press, 1400 Broadway St. NE, Salem, OR 97301. Saturday, Jan. 9 American Farm Bureau Annual Convention, Orlando, Fla., Conven- tion Center. Tuesday, Jan. 12 American Farm Bureau Annual Convention, Orlando, Fla., Conven- tion Center. Cropping Systems Conference, Three Rivers Convention Center, Kennewick, Wash. Far West AgriBusiness Associa- tion annual winter conference, Col- lege of Southern Idaho, Twin Falls. Potato Expo 2016, Mirage Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nev. Far West AgriBusiness Asso- ciation annual winter conference, College of Southern Idaho, Twin Falls. Thursday, Jan. 14 American Farm Bureau Annual Convention, Orlando, Fla., Conven- tion Center. Potato Expo 2016, Mirage Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nev. Monday, Jan. 11 American Farm Bureau Annual Convention, Orlando, Fla., Conven- tion Center. Growing Quality Hay Workshop, Oregon State University Extension, Grants Pass, Ore., 541-776-7371. Managing the soil, cutting and curing, equipment required, forage analysis and its importance, prob- lems with poor quality hay and its Sunday, Jan. 10 American Farm Bureau Annual Convention, Orlando, Fla., Conven- Established 1928 Board of directors Mike Forrester ..........................President Steve Forrester Kathryn Brown Sid Freeman .................. Outside director Mike Omeg .................... Outside director Corporate officer John Perry Chief operating officer By SEAN ELLIS BOISE — Sen. Jim Rice is not a farmer or rancher, as most chairmen of agriculture committees in the Idaho Leg- islature have been. Growing up in the Kuna area of Southwestern Idaho, he was the only male student in his freshman high school class who didn’t belong to FFA. But many of his neighbors were farmers, he moved irri- gation pipe as a youngster, and he gained an appreciation for agriculture at a young age. He still points out which crops are growing in fields to pas- sengers when driving through farm country. “Agriculture is a huge portion of our economy,” the Caldwell Republican said. “It’s something that is vital to our state’s economy, and it will remain vital.” Heading into his second session as chairman of the Idaho Senate Agricultural Affairs Committee, Rice has built a reputation as a staunch defender of farming and ranching. “Senator Rice has been re- ally supportive of agriculture and he’s a quick learner,” said Sen. Jim Patrick, a Republi- can farmer from Twin Falls and an ag committee member. “I fully support him.” When it comes to agricul- ture and legislation, Rice be- lieves less is better. “Idaho’s done a good job Capital Press Wednesday, Jan. 13 Far West AgriBusiness Associa- tion annual winter conference, Col- lege of Southern Idaho, Twin Falls. Oregon Mint Growers 67th Annual Meeting, Salishan Lodge & Golf Resort, Gleneden Beach, Ore. 2016 EcoFarm Conference, Asi- lomar Conference Grounds, Pacific Grove, Calif. Potato Expo 2016, Mirage Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nev. Northwest Hay Expo, Three Rivers Convention Center, Kenne- wick, Wash. Friday, Jan. 15 Friday, Jan. 22 Oregon Mint Growers 67th An- nual Meeting, Salishan Lodge & Golf Resort, Gleneden Beach, Ore. 2016 EcoFarm Conference, Asi- lomar Conference Grounds, Pacific Grove, Calif. Wednesday, Jan. 20 Saturday, Jan. 23 2016 EcoFarm Conference, Asi- lomar Conference Grounds, Pacific Grove, Calif. 2016 EcoFarm Conference, Asi- lomar Conference Grounds, Pacific Grove, Calif. Northwest Hay Expo, Three Rivers Convention Center, Kenne- wick, Wash. Monday, Jan. 25 Oregon Blueberry Conference, Red Lion Hotel, Portland. Periodicals postage paid at Portland, OR, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: send address changes to Capital Press, P.O. Box 2048 Salem, OR 97308-2048. To Reach Us Toll free ............................. 800-882-6789 Main line ........................... 503-364-4431 Fax ................................... 503-370-4383 Advertising Fax ................ 503-364-2692 News Staff N. 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Capital Press ag media www.capitalpress.com www.FarmSeller.com www.AgDirectoryWest.com www.OnlyAg.com www.facebook.com/capitalpress www.facebook.com/farmseller www.facebook.com/onlyAGdotcom twitter.com/capitalpress www.youtube.com/capitalpressvideo www.blogriculture.com Index California ...............................11 Dairy .................................... 16 Idaho .................................... 10 Livestock ............................. 16 Markets ............................... 15 Opinion .................................. 6 Oregon .................................. 8 Washington ........................... 9 Corrections The name of Harney County, Ore., rancher Melodi Molt was misspelled in a Jan. 1 story about militia groups protesting prison sen- tences handed to ranchers Dwight and Steven Hammond. Also, the winner of the Dec. 4 Oregon State FFA Ag Sales com- petition at Ontario was incorrect in a Dec. 25 story. The winning team was from the Yamhill Carlton FFA chapter. The Capital Press regrets the errors.