WASHINGTON, DC – Vote Hemp, the nation’s leading grassroots hemp advocacy organization working to change state and federal laws to allow commercial hemp farming, is organizing a Hemp Lobby Day in coordination with the Hemp Product Expo sponsored by Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO), to occur March 1st, and February 28th 2017, respectively, on Capitol Hill. Hundreds of hemp business owners, farmers and agronomists, entrepreneurs, and activists from around the country will meet with Congressional representatives in Washington, DC, to garner support for the Industrial Hemp Farming Act, and push Congress to make 2017 the year industrial hemp farming is finally made legal in all 50 states. To register for this event, or sign up for concurrent lobby efforts taking place in states around the country, please visit:
| WHAT: | Hemp Expo & Hemp Lobby Day on Capitol Hill |
| WHEN: | Expo: Tuesday, February 28, 10am – 2 pm Lobby Day: Wednesday, March 1, 9:30am – 5pm |
| WHERE: | Expo: Rayburn Foyer, Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC Lobby day meetings to take place in various Congressional members’ offices. |
| *Media are welcome to attend; please contact Lauren@votehemp.com to coordinate. | |
“When passed, the Industrial Hemp Farming Act will remove hemp from the Controlled Substance Act, and let farmers finally take advantage of the huge market opportunity and economic potential of hemp,” said Eric Steenstra, President of Vote Hemp. “Hemp is already creating rural agriculture and manufacturing jobs, but that job growth is stunted by outdated and misinformed drug policy. It’s time Congress demonstrate its commitment to policy that strengthens our farming, processing and manufacturing industries by letting farmers grow this versatile, lucrative and sustainable crop.”
Since the passage of Section 7606 of the Farm Bill, “The Legitimacy of Industrial Hemp Research,” hemp cultivation in the U.S. has grown rapidly. In 2016 alone, 9,649 acres of hemp were planted across 15 states; 817 hemp cultivation licenses were issued; and 30 universities conducted research on the crop. The Kentucky Dept. of Agriculture has already announced that it will license more than 12,800 acres in 2017.
“The majority of states already have laws in favor of hemp farming, and the issue has strong bi-partisan support,” Steenstra continued. “Let’s make 2017 the year Congress lifts prohibition of industrial hemp.”
To date, thirty-one states have defined industrial hemp as distinct and removed barriers to its production. These states are able to take immediate advantage of the industrial hemp research and pilot program provision, Section 7606 of the Farm Bill: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia.
# # #
Vote Hemp is a national, single-issue, non-profit organization dedicated to the acceptance of and a free market for low-THC industrial hemp and to changes in current law to allow U.S. farmers to once again grow the agricultural crop. More information about hemp legislation and the crop’s many uses may be found at www.VoteHemp.comor www.TheHIA.org. Video footage of hemp farming in other countries is available upon request by contacting Lauren Stansbury at 402-540-1208 or lauren@votehemp.com.