On June 22, 2005 for the first time since the federal government outlawed hemp farming in the United States, a federal bill was introduced that would remove restrictions on the cultivation of non-psychoactive industrial hemp. Vote Hemp worked with Rep. Paul to draft H.R. 3037 and conducted outreach to secure 11 cosponsors. The bill defined industrial hemp, excluded it from the definition of “marihuana” in the Controlled Substances Act, and assigned authority over it to the states, allowing laws in those states regulating the growing and processing of industrial hemp to take effect. Rep. Paul gave a floor speech to announce the bill introduction which was recorded in the Congressional Record.
Vote Hemp organized a Capitol Hill lunch on June 23, 2005 marking the introduction of H.R. 3037, the Industrial Hemp Act of 2005, Congressional staffers were treated to a delicious gourmet hemp lunch while listening to various prominent speakers tout the myriad benefits of encouraging and supporting a domestic hemp industry.