WASHINGTON, DC — Vote Hemp, a non-profit organization dedicated to the acceptance of industrial hemp, believes that four state legislatures are likely to pass legislation this year that would allow farmers and researchers to grow industrial hemp. In California, New Hampshire, Oregon and North Dakota business leaders, farmers and legislators are backing legislation that would bring back hemp farming almost 50 years after the crop was taken away from farmers who grew the versatile plant for centuries.
“Hemp farming has become a lucrative crop for farmers in Europe, Canada and Asia, so farmers here are asking ‘Why are we being left out?'” says Alexis Baden-Mayer, Director of Government Relations for Vote Hemp. “The states considering hemp legislation this year are serious about the issue despite the federal government’s de-facto ban on hemp cultivation that stems from misguided marijuana prohibition. Regardless of the federal ban, state legislators are listening to farmers and business owners who think the federal restrictions are not based on scientific arguments — and actually hurt U.S. economic interests since it is legal to import, process, sell and consume hemp seed and hemp fiber products.”
For thousands of years different varieties of Cannabis have been cultivated for non-drug uses such as paper, textiles, soap, food, building materials and more recently high-tech biocomposites used in automobiles. Hemp and marijuana come from different varieties of the Cannabis plant. “Because there are at least 1.5 million cars on the road with hemp door panels, tens of millions of dollars are spent annually on hemp food and hemp body care, and hemp paper is being made here in the U.S., people are asking tough questions about why the U.S. government won’t distinguish low-THC hemp from high-THC drug varieties. I believe there will be federal legislation soon to address needed reforms,” says Baden-Mayer.
Highlights of State Hemp Legislation
Over the past decade at least twenty-five pro-hemp bills have been considered by state legislatures and fourteen have become law. Five states (Hawaii, Kentucky, Montana, North Dakota and West Virginia) allow for hemp farming on a commercial or research basis.
Bills being considered this year include:
California — Assembly Bill 1147 would give farmers the right to apply for state licenses to grow low-THC varieties of hemp. The law would be similar to regulations on industrial hemp in other countries such as Canada and the European Union. The University of California would also conduct research on industrial hemp.
New Hampshire — House Bill 55-FN-A would let farmers apply for a state license to grow industrial hemp. Qualifying farmers must have no criminal convictions and plant at least five acres per year. Only hemp seed sold to farmers by the NH Commissioner of Agriculture would be approved for planting to ensure only low-THC varieties of the plant are grown.
North Dakota — House Bill 1492 passed the House on February 16, passed the Senate on March 1, and is awaiting action by the Governor. HB 1492 allows North Dakota State University to start storing “feral hemp seed” in preparation for the day it becomes legal to grow industrial hemp in the U.S. The vote was 87-3 in the House and 46-0 in the Senate. In 1999 North Dakota was the first state to pass hemp farming legislation, but to date the state has not challenged federal supremacy over the issue in the courts.
Oregon — Senate Bill 294 permits production and possession of industrial hemp and trade in industrial hemp commodities and products. The bill authorizes the State Department of Agriculture to administer a licensing, permitting and inspection program for growers and handlers of industrial hemp.
###
Vote Hemp is a national non-profit organization dedicated to the acceptance of and a free market for industrial hemp and to changes in current law to allow U.S. farmers to once again grow hemp commercially.