Hemp growing going legit after decades-long ban
Jan 28, 2014 7:04 PM (ET)
By KRISTEN WYATT
Associated Press
http://apnews.myway.com//article/20140129/DABK4B301.html
DENVER (AP) - The federal government is ready to let farmers grow
cannabis - at least the kind that can't get people high.
Hemp - marijuana's non-intoxicating cousin that's used to make
everything from clothing to cooking oil - could soon be cultivated in 10
states under a federal farm bill agreement reached late Monday that
allows the establishment of pilot growing programs.
The plant's return to legitimacy could clear the way for U.S. farmers to
compete in an industry currently dominated by China. Even though it
hasn't been grown in the U.S., the country is one of the fastest-growing
hemp markets.
In 2011, the U.S. imported $11.5 million worth of legal hemp products,
up from $1.4 million in 2000. Most of that growth was seen in hemp seed
and hemp oil, which finds its way into granola bars and other products.
"This is big," said Eric Steenstra, president of Vote Hemp, a
Washington-based group that advocates for the plant's legal cultivation.
"We've been pushing for this a long time."
Legalized growing of hemp had congressional allies from both ends of the
political spectrum. Democrats from marijuana-friendly states have pushed
to legalize hemp cultivation, as have Republicans from states where the
fibrous plant could be a profitable new crop.
"We are laying the groundwork for a new commodity market for Kentucky
farmers," Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, said in a statement.
McConnell was a lead negotiator on the inclusion of hemp in the farm bill.
The full House and Senate still must agree on the bill that will head to
the House floor Wednesday. State departments of agriculture then must
designate hemp-cultivation pilot projects for research purposes.
Hemp and marijuana are the same species, Cannabis sativa. Marijuana,
however, is cultivated to dramatically increase THC, a psychoactive
chemical that exists in trace amounts in hemp.
Hemp has historically been used for rope but has hundreds of other uses:
clothing and mulch from the fiber, foods such as hemp milk and cooking
oil from the seeds, and creams, soap and lotions.
George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew hemp, but centuries later
the plant was swept up in anti-drug efforts and growing it without a
federal permit was banned in the 1970 Controlled Substances Act.
The last Drug Enforcement Administration hemp permit was issued in 1999
for a quarter-acre experimental plot in Hawaii. That permit expired in 2003.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture last recorded an industrial hemp crop
in the late 1950s, down from a 1943 peak of more than 150 million pounds
on 146,200 harvested acres.
It's not clear whether legalized hemp cultivation suggests the federal
government is ready to follow the 20 states that have already legalized
medical marijuana, including two that also allow its recreational use.
"This is part of an overall look at cannabis policy, no doubt,"
Steenstra said.
However, opponents of legalized pot insist the hemp change doesn't mean
marijuana is right behind.
Kevin Sabet, director of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, a national
alliance that opposes pot legalization, downplayed the change to the
farm bill.
"On the one hand, I think it's part of a larger agenda to normalize
marijuana, by a few," Sabet said. "On the other hand, will it have any
difference at the end of the day? I would be highly skeptical of that."
Analysts have predicted legal hemp would remain a boutique crop, and the
Congressional Research Service recently cited wildly differing
projections about its economic potential.
Still, farmers interested in hemp say the farm bill agreement is a giant
leap toward a viable hemp industry in this country.
Tom McClain, a Colorado hemp activist who helps connect nascent growers
with buyers, said the industry won't get off the ground without more
research.
"We don't have a compendium of information to go to," McClain said. "We
do rely on universities and agricultural research to help us and direct
us. We need local research to help drive the correct varieties, so that
farmers get the best yield."
Ten states already allow the growing of hemp, though federal drug law
has blocked actual cultivation in most. Those states are Colorado,
Washington, California, Kentucky, Maine, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon,
Vermont and West Virginia.
Earlier this month, the Colorado Department of Agriculture released
licensing procedures for farmers interested in raising hemp.
About a dozen farmers didn't wait for the state rules and harvested
small amounts last year - the nation's first acknowledged hemp crop in
more than five decades. No statewide harvest totals were available.
---
Online:
Hemp portion of the farm bill: http://bit.ly/1ncOCME
_______________________________________________
Medianews mailing list
[email protected]
http://etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews_etskywarn.net
