A federal court will hear arguments next month on whether farmers in North Dakota should be allowed to grow hemp, a non-narcotic cousin of marijuana, CNN reported Oct. 17.

The Nov. 14 hearing will determine whether the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is unreasonably blocking the farmers' petition to legally grow hemp; the DEA and federal drug laws make no distinction between hemp and marijuana.

Hemp is used in a variety of commercial applications, from food to textiles to body-care products. Hemp products are legal in the U.S., but growing the plant is not.

"This is actually an anti-drug. It's a healthy food," said Adam Eidinger of the group Vote Hemp. "We're not using this as a statement to end the drug war." However, the Office of National Drug Control Policy claims that the campaign to legalize hemp is a stalking horse for the marijuana legalization movement.

"ONDCP cautions that, historically, the hemp movement has been almost entirely funded by the well-organized and well-funded marijuana legalization lobby," said spokesman Tom Riley. "All we do is ask people not to be naive about what's really going on here."

However, the case before the federal court was filed by a pair of North Dakota farmers, one of whom is a state legislator. Wayne Hague and Dave Monson say they have filed for federal permits and paid thousands of dollars in fees to grow industrial hemp -- which is legally grown just over the border in Canada -- but that the DEA has been unresponsive. Monson is the assistant Republican leader of the North Dakota House of Representatives.

"Hemp comes from cannabis. It's kind of a Catch 22 there," said DEA spokesman Michael Sanders. "Until Congress does something, we have to enforce the laws."