Tennessee to grow hemp

The years of campaigning by activists in the US has paid off, and now more and more states are welcoming hemp - please continue to support the movement by signing the petition at www.minawear.com

Tennessee Governor Signs Law to Legalize Hemp

Activist Post

Yesterday, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam signed a bill which some supporters consider the strongest pro-hemp legislation in the country. House Bill 2445 (HB2445), introduced by Rep. Jeremy Faison (R-Cosby), would mandate that the state authorize the growing and production of industrial hemp within Tennessee, effectively nullifying the unconstitutional federal ban on the same.

The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 28-0 and the House by a vote of 88-5. It reads, in part:

“The department shall issue licenses to persons who apply to the department for a license to grow industrial hemp.”

Mike Maharrey, communications director for the Tenth Amendment Center, noted that one word strengthened the bill considerably. “By including the word ‘shall’ in this legislation, it has a great deal of impact,” he said. “This means that rather than keeping it open-ended like other states have done, hemp farming will be able to move forward in Tennessee whether the regulatory bureaucrats there want it to or not.”

‘Shall’ is a legal term which creates a specific requirement far stronger than a word like ‘will.’ The former is more closely interchangeable with the word “must,” while the latter allows leeway for the object of the term to delay. In this case, the bill states that the Tennessee department of agriculture will have a mandate to license farmers for growing hemp.

Three other states – Colorado, Oregon and Vermont – have already passed bills to authorize hemp farming, but only in Colorado has the process begun. A similar bill was passed in South Carolina this week and awaits action by Gov. Nikki Haley.

Farmers in SE Colorado started harvesting the plant in 2013 and the state began issuing licenses on March 1, 2014. In Vermont and Oregon, hemp farming was authorized, but no licensing program was mandated, so implementation has been delayed due to regulatory foot-dragging.

With passage of HB2445, Tennessee will most likely become the 2nd state in the country to actively produce hemp. The legislation also ensures that not only will hemp licenses be issued, but the process for doing so will start quickly. It reads:

The department shall initiate the promulgation of rules … concerning industrial hemp production within one hundred and twenty (120) days of this act becoming law

In other words, now that the bill has become law, the process in Tennessee will start no later than November, 2014.

Maharrey called this “monumental” in comparison to Oregon. That state first legalized hemp farming in 2009 but five years later, farming and production still has not begun.

HUGE ECONOMIC POTENTIAL

Experts suggest that the U.S. market for hemp is around $500 million per year.

But, since the enactment of the unconstitutional federal controlled-substances act in 1970, the Drug Enforcement Agency has prevented the production of hemp within the United States. Many hemp supporters feel that the DEA has been used as an “attack dog” of sorts to prevent competition with major industries where American-grown hemp products would create serious market competition: Cotton, Paper/Lumber, Oil, and others.

There are as many as 25,000 uses for industrial hemp, including food, cosmetics, plastics and bio-fuel. The U.S. is currently the world’s #1 importer of hemp fiber for various products, with China and Canada acting as the top two exporters in the world.

During World War II, the United States military relied heavily on hemp products, which resulted in the famous campaign and government-produced film, “Hemp for Victory!”

Even though soil, climate and agricultural capabilities could make the United States a massive producer of industrial hemp, today no hemp is grown for public sale, use and consumption outside of Colorado, which just began production.

In February of this year, President Barack Obama signed a new farm bill into law, which included a provision allowing a handful of states to begin limited research programs growing hemp. The new “hemp amendment”

…allows State Agriculture Departments, colleges and universities to grow hemp, defined as the non-drug oilseed and fiber varieties of Cannabis, for academic or agricultural research purposes, but it applies only to states where industrial hemp farming is already legal under state law.

The farming laws in Colorado, Oregon and Vermont go beyond research and into full-scale farming and production, effectively nullifying the federal ban once production begins. Tennessee joins them, and will likely become the 2nd state in the country to actively start an industrial hemp program.

The latest in hemp bags from Arrogance

I just heard from Sneha Bhani at Arrogance - www.arrogance.com - check them out, they are a London based firm that makes really great bags and luggage, they come from a background of being in that business and do not mess around - their stuff does not wear out! Top quality.  And the look is always spot on, I gave some of their goods to journalists and one baroness and it never failed to impress.
Posted below is an image of some of their bags, and I will be posting more soon and talking about their latest moves. Companies like this are a source of pride to the hemp movement and it is their example that has helped move forward the issue - this fall the first industrial hemp harvest in 50 years
has just taken place in the US (Ryan Loflin's 60 acre plot in Colorado) and it is very much due to hard working hempsters who make quality stuff that can be taken seriously that politicians have gone to bat for hemp or decided, as in the case of the US Attorney General Eric Holder, to let it grow.
In the UK it has been growing for years, although Arrogance and other companies must buy their textiles still mainly, if not exclusively, from China - as there is not the infrastructure in place to weave it elsewhere. The more we buy hemp and support these kind of companies the more momentum we have to bring about local hemp cultivation and production - in other words -
JOBS! Let's help the economy and the environment this way, and if anyone wants to get their voice heard at the White House, please sign the petition at
www.minawear.com/about-us/

Fifty Years' a not growing: America's first hemp harvest

Just in from Colorado: A story about a farmer who is challening the federal law and growing hemp. He wins this round, but it cannot just go on in legal limbo - we need every vote we can get, make your voice heard and please add your name to the White House Petition at www.minawear.com/about-us/ so farmers all over the US can safely grow this and create JOBS for everyone!

Thank you and please check out the story below:

Ryan Loflin.

America's first (known) hemp harvest in more than fifty years began this month in southeastern Colorado. This past spring, following last year's passage of Amendment 64, which legalized small amounts of marijuana for adults and paved the way for industrial hemp production, farmer Ryan Loflin planted 55 acres of marijuana's sober sister. Last week, hemp advocates from across the country came to watch as Loflin and others harvested the first plants by hand.
"It felt very historic," says advocate Lynda Parker.
See also: Free joint giveaway on Boulder's Pearl Street Mall
"We think that, obviously, this is a symbolic first hemp harvest," says Eric Steenstra, the executive director of the Hemp Industries Association.
With the U.S. Department of Justice recently indicating that it won't sue to stop states' marijuana policies, Steenstra predicts farmers in other states will soon follow Loflin's lead. Steenstra is among those who believe the DOJ's pot policy extends to hemp; although hemp contains little to none of the THC found in marijuana, the federal government doesn't distinguish between the two and considers both to be illegal.
"Our eventual hope is to see the full commercialization of hemp," he says.

Hemp Industries Association

Loflin harvests his hemp plants.

Loflin has only been able to harvest about a quarter-acre of his plot so far. He was planning to use a combine to harvest the bulk of it, but when he tested that method, he found that the combine destroyed part of the plant in the process. So now he plans to hand-harvest the entire field. That way, he says, he'll even be able to save the roots.
"We're going to try and save the entire plant and do as much as we can," Loflin says.
Since hemp was illegal for so long, there's very little seed available, making the seeds produced by Loflin's plants quite valuable. "We'll save a lot of the seed and replant it next year," says Loflin, who also plans to make a small amount of hemp seed oil.
Loflin says he isn't worried about law enforcement, especially in the wake of the Department of Justice's announcement. "It's time for this to happen," he says.
The Colorado Department of Agriculture is currently working on rules for registering hemp farmers with the aim of having them in place by early 2014. Back in May, the department issued a statement clarifying that it's not okay to plant hemp in Colorado until that registration process in in place -- a distinction that didn't stop Loflin.
The night before the September 23 ceremonial harvest, Loflin hosted a dinner at his farm, complete with hemp food. It was attended by Colorado hemp advocates, as well as national advocates from Vote Hemp, Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps and the Hemp Industries Association. See photos below from the dinner and of advocates in Loflin's field.

Hemp Industries Association

Advocates enjoy a hempy dinner before the harvest.

Hemp Industries Association

Ryan Fletcher, communications director for HIA; Eric Lineback, board member of Vote Hemp; Patrick Goggin, board member of Vote Hemp; Eric Steenstra, executive director of HIA; Christina Volgyesi, marketing director for Dr. Bronner's; David

Kentucky to challenge feds on hemp

<sup>One more state is willing to just let it grow: Kentucky. Colorado farmers planted
hemp despite the federal ban earlier this year, and now Kentucky is considering doing the same.  The petition is still up to sign for lifting the federal ban, it goes to the White House when we get 25,000 signatures, please be one of those - www.minawear.com/about-us/ is where to go, just takes a few moments to do!
The article below gives us the latest in this saga from Kentucky:



Kentucky’s Commissioner of Agriculture James Comer said Attorney General Eric Holder’s announcement last week of changes in the Justice Department’s marijuana policy could mean that the state can move ahead with industrial hemp farming. Louisville’s WDRB reported that Comer intends to forge ahead with industrial hemp in hopes that federal policy will continue to mellow with regards to marijuana.
“This is going to happen sooner than many of us thought,” said Comer. The state’s industrial hemp commission intends to meet next week and decide whether to proceed with hemp farming in Kentucky. Comer is sanguine enough about the outcome that he is already courting hemp processing companies in hopes that they will do business in the state.
Hemp and marijuana are both species of the plant Cannabis sativa L, but marijuana contains high amounts of THC, the psychoactive chemical that produces a “high” in users. Hemp does not contain enough THC to get users high, but both species of Cannabis are illegal to grow and cultivate in the U.S., except in the 20 states that have legalized medical marijuana for medical use or Colorado and Washington, which have also made marijuana legal for recreational use.</sup>

Hemp is grown for its oil, seeds and fibers, which Comer believes will re-invigorate Kentucky’s agricultural economy. He is eager to move forward.
“The DOJ is saying that is saying that it’s legal to grow marijuana in states that have a regulatory framework but not legal to grow hemp? I don’t think so,” said Comer to reporters. “We’re going to proceed unless the DOJ specifically tells us not to proceed.”
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul (R) issued a statement supporting Comer on Wednesday.
“I support Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer in his efforts to move forward with the production of industrial hemp in the Commonwealth,” Paul wrote. “This fight has always been about jobs and providing another opportunity for Kentucky’s farmers, and I expect the Obama Administration to treat all states equally in this process. I will continue to fight at the federal level to enact legislation to secure this new industry for Kentucky.”
The Kentucky state state legislature passed a measure earlier this year legalizing hemp production in the state. Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear withheld his option to veto, saying, “I strongly support efforts to create additional legal cash crops for our farm communities. At the same time, we have a tremendous drug problem in Kentucky, and I want to make sure that we don’t do anything that will increase that drug problem. I still share the same concerns our law enforcement officers have about the impact hemp cultivation may have on our drug eradication efforts.”

WDRB 41 Louisville News

New York Times article on hemp sowing in Colorado

Groundwork Laid, Growers Turn to Hemp in Colorado

Matthew Staver for The New York Times

“I’m not going to hide anymore,” said Ryan Loflin, who sowed hemp on his 60 acres in Springfield, Colo. The state has a hemp commission to write rules.

By JACK HEALY

 

SPRINGFIELD, Colo. — Along the plains of eastern Colorado, on a patch of soil where his father once raised alfalfa, Ryan Loflin is growing a leafy green challenge to the nation’s drug law.

Matthew Staver for The New York Times

As part of regulation, Colorado will be able to randomly test hemp crops to ensure that they have only trace amounts of THC, a chemical in marijuana.

His fields are sown with hemp, a tame cousin of marijuana that was once grown openly in the United States but is now outlawed as a controlled substance. Last year, as Colorado voters legalized marijuana for recreational use, they also approved a measure laying a path for farmers like Mr. Loflin, 40, to once again grow and harvest hemp, a potentially lucrative crop that can be processed into goods as diverse as cooking oil, clothing and building material. This spring, he became the first farmer in Colorado to publicly sow his fields with hemp seed.

“I’m not going to hide anymore,” he said one recent morning after striding through a sea of hip-high plants growing fast under the sun.

Mr. Loflin’s 60-acre experiment is one of an estimated two dozen small hemp plantings sprouting in Colorado. Hemp cultivation presents a vexing problem for the federal government, which draws no distinction between hemp and marijuana, as it decides how to respond to a new era of legalized marijuana in Colorado and Washington State.

State agencies have worked quickly to create new rules, licenses and taxes for hemp and recreational marijuana. Many towns have voted to ban the new retailers; others have decided to regulate them. Denver, for example, is proposing a 5 percent tax on recreational marijuana sales.

Colorado has set up an industrial hemp commission to write rules to register hemp farmers and charge them a fee to grow the crop commercially.

“It’s something that can be copied and used nationally,” said Michael Bowman, a farmer in northeastern Colorado who sits on the state hemp commission. “We’re trying to build a legitimate industry.”

The state will also be able to randomly test crops to ensure that they contain no more than 0.3 percent THC, the psychoactive chemical in marijuana, far below the level found in marijuana.

Opponents say that hemp and marijuana are essentially the same plant and that both contain the same psychoactive substance. But supporters say that comparing hemp with potent strains of marijuana is like comparing a nonalcoholic beer with a bottle of vodka.

Still, farmers and marijuana advocates worry: will drug agents stand on the sidelines and allow Colorado and Washington to pursue their own experiments with legalization? Or will the federal government crack down to assert its authority over drug policies?

A spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Administration in Denver said hemp farmers were “not on our radar,” but R. Gil Kerlikowske, director of the Obama administration’s Office of National Drug Control Policy, has offered stern words against both marijuana and hemp, saying that no matter what states did, the plants were still illegal in the federal government’s view.

“Hemp and marijuana are part of the same species of cannabis plant,” Mr. Kerlikowske wrote in response to a 2011 petition that sought to legalize hemp cultivation. “While most of the THC in cannabis plants is concentrated in the marijuana, all parts of the plant, including hemp, can contain THC, a Schedule I controlled substance.”

Lately, hemp has been tiptoeing toward the agricultural mainstream, gaining support from farmers’ trade groups and a wide array of politicians in statehouses and in Washington. In the Republican-controlled House, a provision tucked into the farm bill would let universities in hemp-friendly states grow small plots for research.

A handful of states, from liberal Vermont to conservative North Dakota and Kentucky, have voted to allow commercial hemp. In Vermont, any farmers who want to register as hemp growers under a new state program have to sign a form acknowledging that they risk losing their agricultural subsidies, farm equipment and livelihoods if federal agents decide to swoop in.

Every year, the federal authorities seize and destroy millions of marijuana plants — a crackdown that has rattled the medical marijuana industry in California — but the pace of seizures has dropped sharply in recent years. In 2012, federal officials reported that 3.9 million cannabis plants had been destroyed under D.E.A. eradication efforts. A year earlier, officials said they had eradicated 6.7 million plants.

Beyond the risk of federal raids and seizures, Kevin Sabet, a former drug policy adviser in the Obama administration, said the market for hemp goods is still vanishingly small and questioned whether it could really be a panacea for farmers.

 

Matthew Staver for The New York Times

Ryan Loflin and other hemp farmers walk a precarious line, as the state said it would not authorize planting until next year.                           

“Hemp is the redheaded stepchild of marijuana policy, and probably for good reason,” said Mr. Sabet, who is now the director of the Drug Policy Institute. “In a world with finite capacity to handle drug problems, my advice would be for people to think less about an insignificant issue like hemp and more about the very real issues of drug addiction, marijuana commercialization and glamorization, and how to make our policies work better.”

Even without the threat of federal raids, transforming hemp into a cash crop will be like asking a clear sky for rain. Viable seeds are illegal and scarce. Few working farmers or experts in the United States have any expertise in growing hemp. And there is basically no infrastructure to process the plants into legal components like oil, fibers and proteins.

In Colorado, Jason Lauve, the executive director of Hemp Cleans, an advocacy group, said he has spoken with about two dozen small farmers and landowners who are cautiously growing their first hemp crops.

“We’re really walking gently,” Mr. Lauve said. “We don’t want to put people at risk. We want to see how much states’ rights really protect us, versus the jurisdiction of the federal government.”

Even here, farmers like Mr. Loflin are walking a precarious line. Although Colorado voters opened the door to hemp farming last year, the state warned would-be hemp farmers in May that they would not be authorized to plant until early in 2014.

But this spring, Mr. Loflin decided it was time. For years, he had read about how hemp could replenish undernourished soil and be woven and squeezed into a wide array of products. He drinks a shot of hemp oil for his health every day — “It tastes kind of like grass” — and believes the plant could one day lift the fortunes of struggling small farmers.

He spent the winter assembling a seed collection from suppliers in Britain, Canada, China and Germany, where hemp is legal. They entered the country via U.P.S., labeled “bird seed” or “toasted hemp seed.” One bag was seized by customs officials, he said. Some 1,500 pounds of seeds were not.

At the end of June, with more than $15,000 invested in the venture, he planted his crop. He said he alerted his neighbors and has not gotten any complaints from people around Springfield, or from federal officials.

When Mr. Loflin visits the farm from his home in western Colorado, he half-expects to see D.E.A. cars racing down Highway 160 to burn down his crop before harvest. But he believes he can stake a living in hemp’s oily seeds and versatile fibers. He has gotten tired of his day job building ski homes in the mountains. To him, hemp’s outlaw status is just another hazard of starting a business.

“It’s well worth the risk,” he said. “It’s hemp. Come on, it just needs to be done.”

Congressman indulging in Zendulgence in DC

Photo by Ben Droz

Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., is lactose intolerant, so eating ice cream “is always challenging,” the lawmaker divulged. But on Thursday, Polis dipped his spoon into Zendulgence hemp gelato, a dairy-free alternative made from the controversial hemp plant. “I’m really excited,” he said. “I scream, you scream, we all scream, for hemp ice cream,” he rhymed.
Polis is among a number of lawmakers who are trying to change the law, so that the hemp plant can be legally grown in the United States. Hemp gets a bad rap thanks to its druggie cousin, marijuana. Industrial hemp, as it’s called, doesn’t get people high and instead can be used as a building material, in clothing and in food products–including ice cream. Currently, the hemp sold in the United States is grown in other countries.
As of right now, the pro-hemp Polis-Massie amendment is attached to the House version of the Farm Bill. It would allow colleges and universities to grow hemp, as long as their states have deemed it legal. This amendment’s passage is significant because it was the first time the hemp issue came to a Congressional vote. There’s also a bill in both houses that would exclude hemp from the definition of marijuana, therefore making it legal to grow. Both bills have a bipartisan batch of co-sponsors.
On Thursday morning, Polis was joined by Reps. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky., for a brunchtime gelato tasting and briefing, courtesy of the Vote Hemp lobby.
And while Congress hasn’t come to a consensus on the future of hemp (yet) the takeaway in the room was that hemp was delicious. “Two thumbs up,” Blumenauer concluded, as he tasted a spoonful of chocolate gelato.

Grow Hemp or Die: News from Vermont

Vermont...Kentucky...Colorado...and 12 other states are now causing DC some trouble. Hemp, which was part of American life for centuries, is set to make more waves as American haters in DC try to confuse the issue so that Americans will not have raw materials and create jobs. Many senators and congressmen are in this anti-American league and will lie and act stupid to jerk Americans around. It is an ongoing saga, this is like inning 34,578 of the game. Enough to cause a revolution!
But at least it is good news, Vermont  (Live Free of Die) is standing up for America and for hemp.
This in from Lisa Rathke at the Associated Press:

WAITSFIELD, Vt. — Some Vermont farmers want to plant hemp, now that the state has a law setting up rules to grow the plant, a cousin of marijuana that’s more suitable for making sandals than getting high. But federal law forbids growing hemp without a permit, so farmers could be risking the farm if they decide to grow the plant that the Drug Enforcement Agency basically considers marijuana. Hemp and marijuana share the same species — cannabis sativa — but hemp has a negligible content of THC, the psychoactive compound in marijuana. Under federal law, all cannabis plants fall under the marijuana label, regardless of THC content. To grow marijuana for industrial purposes or research, a grower must register with the DEA and meet specific security requirements, such as installing costly fencing for a field of hemp. A national nonprofit group is pushing to change current law and move regulation of hemp farming from the DEA to the state. In the meantime, the group, Vote Hemp, does not recommend growing hemp while state and federal laws conflict. “It’s literally betting the farm,” says Tom Murphy, national outreach coordinator for the group. Farmers who grow it, or even conspire to grow it and import the seeds face jail time and the forfeiture of their land, he says. But it’s unclear how seriously the DEA will enforce it. Murphy says he’s heard that people have planted hemp on leased land in Colorado. “Now if somebody chooses to do it as civil disobedience, knowing full well what’s going to happen, then that’s on them,” he says. So far, 19 states have passed hemp legislation, including nine that allow its production. Eight states have passed bills calling for the study of hemp, while three states passed bills setting up commissions or authorizing the study of it, according to Vote Hemp. The states hope to nudge the federal government to change its law. John Vitko would like to grow hemp on his Vermont farm to use as feed for his chickens, now that Vermont has passed a law setting up rules to grow it. He doesn’t know where to find seed and knows he would be breaking federal law if he finds some and grows a small amount of the plant. With the cost of feed continually rising, he says hemp provides an economical way to feed and provide bedding for his 100 birds, whose eggs are used in the custard-based ice cream he sells to restaurants and in a dessert shop in Waitsfield, Vt. “It’s one of the few things that are manageable for a small farmer to handle,” he says of hemp, which doesn’t require large equipment to plant and harvest like corn does. “It’s complete protein,” he says. “It has all their amino acids. It’s a seed which birds like.” Hemp has been grown in the U.S. in the past to make rope, fabric and even the paper was used to draft the Declaration of Independence. Missing outNow most hemp products in the U.S. are imported from Canada, China and Europe and some farmers think the U.S. is missing out on a lucrative crop. U.S. Rep. Jared Polis of Colorado was granted a request to fly an American flag made of hemp over the capitol in Washington on the Fourth of July. He held the flag during the U.S. House debate in a hemp amendment to the farm bill that he introduced with Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Democratic Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon.The measure would have allowed colleges and universities to grow hemp for research in states where its cultivation is permitted. The amendment passed but the farm bill failed. “Support for our recent farm bill amendment demonstrated that there is growing consensus to revisit the antiquated drug laws that now keep U.S. farmers from participating in the $300 million hemp retail market,” Blumenauer says. “A hemp flag flown over the Capitol on the Fourth of July is a powerful symbol of this reform movement.” The bill that Democratic Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin signed into law last month is intended to push the federal government to change its law after Canada reintroduced industrial hemp in the late 1990s. “The reason we want to push for a change is that hemp is potentially a valuable crop,” says Democratic Rep. Caroline Partridge, chairwoman of the Vermont House Committee on Agriculture and Forest Products. “People want to grow it. Hemp oil is a valuable product, and there’s so much of the hemp plant that can be used for very, very productive purposes.” - See more at: http://www.agweek.com/event/article/id/21329/#sthash.qsbyQ5fN.dpuf

hemp gains ground in the US

This year has been dramatic for hemp awareness, and in the US many legal battles have been won. A petition is under way to the White House - www.minawear.com/about-us/ if you care to sign - and there is a good chance that hemp will ge cultivated again soon. Some setbacks have occured this year however, and the press as usual has ignored the story - but yesterday more good news pushed it back into the papers - see below:


An amendment to legalize industrial hemp for research purposes was included in the Farm Bill yesterday – and passed the United States House by a vote of 216 to 208.
Representatives Jared Polis, a Democrat from Colorado, Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky and Earl Blumenauer, a Democrat from Oregon sponsored the amendment.
It allows colleges and universities to grow hemp for academic and agricultural research purposes, but applies only to states that have already legalized industrial hemp production. Colorado legalized industrial hemp in November, when it also legalized recreational use of marijuana.
And even the representatives who disagreed with the Republican version of the Farm Bill, were pleased that the industrial hemp amendment passed.
“This commonsense amendment will allow colleges and universities to grow and cultivate industrial hemp for academic and legal research purposes,” Polis said.
Industrial hemp legislation has been introduced in 20 states: Alabama, Colorado, California, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Washington and West Virginia.
It’s estimated that the United States imports $500 million in industrial hemp products for food, hygiene products and clothing every year.
Two other stand-alone industrial hemp bills have been introduced in Congress as well – one in the House and Senate. If passed, the bills will removed feral restrictions on the domestic cultivation of industrial hemp, which has no THC, the chemical that induces the “high” in marijuana.
Colorado is one of nine states that have removed barriers to hemp production.

Anndrea Hermann on hemp in Colorado

Colorado is one of two states that have ruled that the federal ban on hemp is unconstitutional - the other is Maine. The following report on Colorado appeared on 18 June in Steamboat Today, written by Tom Ross:

Steamboat Springs — If industrial hemp can grow on the plains of Manitoba, it can grow in semi-arid Northwest Colorado, Anndrea Hermann said Tuesday.

#Hermann is recognized as one of the foremost experts in North America on the cultivation of industrial hemp for its valued fiber and oil, and she will be teaching a groundbreaking e-course on the subject at Oregon State University this fall.

#“Can it grow there?” Hermann asked rhetorically during a phone interview with the Steamboat Today on Tuesday. “Absolutely. Do we know the cultivars — the varieties and parental lines that will do the best? No, we don’t. We’d have to test them. But in Manitoba, hemp grows with 8 to 13 inches of (annual moisture) without any worries. We have dryland production in Manitoba and we get our share of winter.”

#Industrial hemp is distinctly different from the type of cannabis sativa that produces the psychoactive chemical in marijuana that pot smokers covet. Industrial hemp does not yield significant amounts of THC. In other words, when grown properly to take advantage of the plant’s practical uses, industrial help won’t make people high.

#Steamboat Springs receives on average of 24.5 inches of precipitation, and Hayden, with a milder climate, receives 18.6 inches annually. A research paper done at Oregon State in 2008 suggested that hemp thrives in climates with at least 25 to 30 inches of water, fertile loam soils and extended growing seasons.

#But the study also reports that young hemp plants can tolerate some frost, and Hermann said the plant’s deep taproots help with its water needs.

#Hemp was an important industrial crop in the United States during World War II when its tough fibers were relied upon heavily for cordage, or rope. It subsequently was banned by the federal government along with marijuana, but the crop has come to the forefront of public awareness in Colorado since voters’ passage of Amendment 64 in November legalized industrial hemp at the same time that it legalized the possession of small amounts of recreational marijuana.

#More recently, the Colorado Legislature passed a bill intended to regulate industrial growing of hemp, and Gov. John Hickenlooper signed it into law at the end of May. The potential of the industry and for Colorado to become the sole state producing hemp domestically garnered bipartisan support in the Legislature.

#The Rocky Mountain Farmers Union submitted a position piece that was published in the Steamboat Today in April. It pointed out that the new state law regulating production of industrial hemp here requires that crops produced in Colorado go to processing plants in the state. In addition to rope, hemp is used in a wide range of products, from clothing to cosmetics. Keeping hemp processing in state should create jobs beyond agriculture, the Farmers Union pointed out.

#Farmers Union spokesman Mick McAllister said Tuesday that the biggest barrier to reviving industrial hemp as a cash crop in Colorado isn’t the amount of available annual moisture but the continuing federal ban on the plant. The logical place to explore the varieties of hemp that could thrive on the eastern and western slopes is in the agronomy labs at Colorado State University. But from universities to individual growers, it’s difficult to assume the risk that they will be cut off from USDA funding programs and subsidies if they cultivate the crop.

#“No one is coming right out and saying it, but Colorado State can’t do it; it would jeopardize their federal money,” McAllister said. “Until the federal legislation is passed that legalizes industrial hemp nationally, chances are it won’t get the macro attention we need to make it a viable crop.”

#The Farmers Union is lobbying actively for decriminalization of industrial hemp at the federal level, and bills were introduced in the House of Representatives and Senate late this winter.

#Has anyone ever farmed hemp in Routt County?

#“Not that I can recall,” former longtime Routt County Extension Agent Sam Haslem said Tuesday. “I grew up as a cowboy in Moffat County. I remember using ropes from the Plymouth Cordage Company (founded in Plymouth, Mass., in 1824). I’m still a cowboy.”

Senator Schwartz's record

Senator Gail Schwartz of Snowmass Village sponsored several bills this
session, including a controversial one about renewable energy.

Senator Gail Schwartz of Snowmass Village is looking back on a productive legislative session about a month after it wrapped up. The democrat introduced 35 bills. Most were successful in a democratically-controlled Statehouse.

Her bills ranged from water conservation to making hemp a viable commercial product. I sat down with her to discuss these efforts. We began with House Bill 252, one of the most hotly contested measures this session. The now-law requires 18 rural electric cooperatives from Montrose to Gunnison, increase the amount of renewable sources they use.

Listen to the interview at this link: aspenpublicradio.org

Hemp for Victory Screening in Colorado

The Colorado Hemp Network is announcing the “Hemp for Victory” Party on Tuesday, May 28 in Denver. The Party will celebrate the signing of Senate Bill 13-241, sponsored by Gail Schwartz (D-Snowmass Village), which creates the Colorado Industrial Hemp Program. The bill will allow Colorado farmers to grow up to 10 acres of industrial hemp (cannabis that contains less than 0.3% THC).
Senator Lloyd Casey introduced the first industrial hemp bill in the nation in Colorado in 1995. Casey is now 86 years old and will be the guest of honor at the signing of SB 241 (now called the “Casey Bill” in his honor). Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper is scheduled to sign the bill on Tues., May 28.
***HEMP FOR VICTORY PARTY***
Featuring former state Senator Lloyd Casey
Date: Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Time: 1:00-300pm
Where: Casselman’s Bar and Venue
2620 Walnut St., Denver, Colorado
http://casselmans.com/
This Event is Free and Open to the Public.
SCHEDULE
1:00pm: Lunch with Casey Casselman’s full lunch and drink menu will be available for purchase
2:00pm: Speeches
- Sen. Lloyd Casey, retired, introduced first state industrial hemp bill in US in 1995
- Representatives for the office of Sen. Gail Schwartz (D-Snowmass), the primary sponsor of the 2013 bill
- Lynda Parker, Colorado Hemp Association (www.NewAgHempEconomy.com)
- Many other representatives who participated in the 1995 and the 2013 industrial hemp bills
*** THE SPEECHES WILL BE BROADCAST LIVE ONLINE AT 2:00PM MDT***
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/colorado420
3:00pm: Showing of “Hemp for Victory”, a 1942 USDA film that promoted hemp for the World War II effort
BACKGROUND
In 1995 and 1996, agents of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration testified in person against Senator Casey’s industrial hemp bills, intimidating the state legislature into killing the bills each year by telling them they would be in violation of federal law if they voted in favor of hemp. Click here to read Senator Casey’s classic tell-off letter to the DEA:
http://www.colorado420.com/hemp#dea
Casey is excited to return to Colorado to celebrate the signing of the bill. In an email to the Colorado Hemp Network before he left his home in Ohio for the Colorado visit, Casey wrote: “As I was getting ready for my trip, I asked myself, ‘What the hell are you doing? You’re damned near 87 years old.’ Then I remind myself I promised the DEA I’d live to know our Colorado farmers were planting industrial hemp. I wouldn’t want to break my promise.”
Senator Casey, a World War II veteran, remembers that hemp was the fiber of choice for the miles of line needed by the Navy. In 1942, the US Department of Agriculture produced a film called “Hemp for Victory” that encouraged farmers to grow hemp for the war effort. This film will be shown at the Hemp for Victory Party.
“People always said Casey was ahead of his time,” said Laura Kriho, who was an aide to Senator Casey in 1995 and 1996 and a member of the Colorado Hemp Initiative Project. “Now we know just how far ahead of his time he was — 18 years to be exact.”
Anyone who is excited about hemp in Colorado or who would like to meet Senator Casey is encouraged to attend.
WORKING PRESS: Receive 1 FREE DRINK courtesy of the Cannabis Press Association.
SUPPORT HEMP ADVOCATES — BUY CASEY’S BOOK:
“Family First: A Father’s Legacy”
http://www.lloydcasey.com

Hemp planted in the US; first legal? planting in 60 years

Ryan Loflin, of Colorado Hemp, funnels his hemp seeds into a baggie in Crested Butte in April. (AAron Ontiveroz, Denver Post file)

Springfield farmer Ryan Loflin on Monday planted the nation's first industrial hemp crop in almost 60 years.
Loflin's plans to grow hemp already have been chronicled, and Monday's planting attracted the attention of more media in southeastern Colorado and a documentary film crew.
Hemp is genetically related to marijuana but contains little or no THC, the psychoactive substance in marijuana. Hemp has dozens of uses in food, cosmetics, clothing and industrial materials.
Its

Ryan Loflin, of Colorado Hemp, handles a batch of a particular kind of hemp seeds that produce vast amounts of hemp oil. (AAron Ontiveroz, Denver Post file)

cultivation in small test plots became legal last year under a Colorado law. The passage of Amendment 64 in November allowed commercial growing, even though hemp, like marijuana, is illegal under federal law.
Loflin is planting 60 acres on acreage previously used to grow alfalfa. He and business partner Chris Thompson also are installing a seed press to produce hemp oil.
Collaborators in the documentary include the Colorado-based advocacy group Hemp Cleans and hemp-products company Hemp Inc.
"This is monumental for our industry," said Bruce Perlowin, chief executive of Hemp Inc. "It will unlock a clean industrial revolution that will be good for the economy, good for jobs and good for the environment."

Read more: First major hemp crop in 60 years is planted in southeast Colorado - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_23232417/first-major-hemp-crop-60-years-is-planted#ixzz2TSpHmxnJ
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Hemp Seminar in Colorado

Caren Kershner in the Valley Courier has a great story about a hemp event in Colorado, which is getting ready for hemp farming - or at least a battle with the federal government which insists it is illegal...lots of this is covered satirically in Doonesbury, with slacker Zonker going out to grow 'artisinal cannabis', i.e. pot, so that really does miss the point. One would think that such a liberal cartoonist would have a better handle on the issue, but one has to put in to focus the reality of a lot of these lefties - they are in it for the $ and so cannot be trusted to act. Else they would have come along decades ago and not just this year! But it is nice to have them finally take notice, and always good to have anyone sign the petition to the White House at www.minawear.com/about-us/


VALLEY — Along with the passage of Amendment 64, which regulates the use of recreational marijuana, came an unexpected bonus for the state of Colorado. Farmers now have the option of once again growing industrial hemp.

But just what does that mean — isn’t hemp a close relative of marijuana? Yes, but with some significant differences. Although both are classified as Cannabis sativa L., industrial hemp has very little of the psychoactive ingredient THC. Industrial hemp also has an incredible number of uses, from foods to fuels. This month local residents will have a chance to learn more about this useful cousin of marijuana from some of the movers and shakers in the hemp industry.

Hemp Cleans is an organization that was formed for the purpose of initiating legislation to allow for the study of hemp cultivation as a means of remediating toxic soils. They have cooperated closely with Senator Gail Schwartz and the Rocky Mountain Farmers’ Union in crafting industrial hemp regulations pursuant to Amendment 64. They have traveled throughout the state speaking with farmers and other interested parties about the opportunities hemp provides for agriculture, industry and the environment. Now they are coming to speak with the Valley community.

Jason Lauve, Lynda Parker, and Erik Hunter will be visiting the north end of the San Luis Valley on the evening of Friday, May 17 in the Moffat School Cafeteria. They will offer a wealth of information based on their combined experience, addressing legalities and agricultural requirements, as well as hemp products and markets in the US. For those who don’t know, the school is just off Highway 17 in the town of Moffat.

The community will welcome them beginning with a ‘hemp’luck (in lieu of a ‘pot’luck) dinner , in order to give local participants an opportunity to meet the speakers on an informal basis before the scheduled presentation. Please bring a dish to share. Paper plates, cups and utensils will be provided. Doors will open at 5 p.m. with dinner to follow from 5:30 -6:30 p.m. The presentation will start promptly at 6:30 p.m. A question and answer session will follow the presentation. All are welcome, especially those who wish to learn more about this remarkable plant or wish to become involved in growing hemp locally. Detailed information will be available.

A second presentation is scheduled for the morning of Saturday, May 18 in the Trinidad State Junior College auditorium, 1011 Main St., Alamosa. Doors will open at 10 a.m. and the presentation will begin at 10:30 a.m. Once again, there will be a question and answer session following the presentation and at this presentation, hempseed cookies will be available for sampling.

Presenters are asking for a $5 donation from participants to cover the travel costs of the presenters, who are volunteering their time. However, no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Come and find out why industrial hemp, the crop of the forefathers, is poised to make a comeback, and why Colorado is leading the way.

Hemp now legal in Colorado

An article by Joe Hanel in the Cortez Journal gives us the latest on hemp in Colorado:

DENVER - Voter approval of legalized marijuana last November caused a national celebration among pot aficionados, but it is also drawing an enthusiastic reaction from Colorado farm country.

That's because Amendment 64 also legalized hemp, a crop that has many uses but won't get people high if it's grown properly.

"I've probably had more people stop me on the road in my area of the country asking me about hemp than anything in the last several years," said Rocky Mountain Farmers Union President Kent Peppler.

Legislators on the House Agriculture Committee were just as interested Monday, and it's little wonder why.

Hemp's strong fibers can be used for clothing as simple as a T-shirt or complex as a fireproof suit, witnesses said. Businessmen told the committee that they have built houses out of it.

Adam Dunn, a marijuana entrepreneur who moved to Denver from Amsterdam, Netherlands, two years ago, dazzled legislators with his hemp jacket, which he said can stop a .357-caliber bullet. His company made its first bulletproof coat for the rapper Snoop Dogg, he said.

Rep. Don Coram, R-Montrose, sponsored Senate Bill 241, which sets up state regulation of hemp growers in the Colorado Department of Agriculture. It passed the House panel 11-0 Monday.

Coram said 75 people showed up to his town meeting at a Montrose John Deere dealership this year, wanting to hear more about hemp.

"We may be on the cutting edge of a great agricultural crop for rural Colorado," Coram said. "I think it's an opportunity for a new crop that has an old history."

That history remains a problem today. Although the U.S. government encouraged farmers to grow hemp during World War II, it has been illegal for decades under federal law. Members of Congress are pushing a bill to remove hemp from the federal list of illegal drugs, Coram said.

Even though hemp is now legal in Colorado, farmers are hesitant to grow the crop because they don't know if it will disqualify them for benefits from the federal farm bill, Peppler said. However, legislators are anticipating that Congress might soon legalize hemp cultivation. If it does, then the bill would turn over hemp regulation to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and end the state program.

The legislative controversy over marijuana is nowhere to be found over hemp. The bill passed 34-1 in the Senate last week, and it has bipartisan backing in the House. Coram's fellow sponsor is House Agriculture Committee Chairman Randy Fischer, D-Fort Collins.

The bill has to go to the House Appropriations Committee, and it must clear the full House by May 8, when the yearly session ends.

Coram said he is likely to ask for an amendment in the House that allows inspections to make sure farmers are not growing hemp with too much THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.

Coram doesn't think there will be problems with farmers confusing hemp for marijuana - knowingly or not. The crops look different, he said.

"I'm not an expert, but I can see the difference very easily," Coram said.

joeh@cortezjournal.com

Hemp plants under cultivation in Colorado

Brandon Rittiman on 9NEWS in Colorado reports on the latest on hemp:

 

DENVER - The Colorado Senate recently did what the voters asked, passing SB241.

Senate Bill 241 would legalize growing of industrial hemp in Colorado.

That vote was unanimous, but the bill still needs to pass the House.

In a warehouse North of Denver in Lafayette, 9NEWS toured a small operation growing about a dozen hemp plants.

The plants are Cannabis sativa, the same species as some marijuana plants, but this would be the marijuana equivalent of non-alcoholic beer.

When grown to produce an intoxicating drug, the plant's weight is typically five to 15 percent THC. By definition, industrial hemp must contain less than 0.3 percent of the drug.

"It'd be like smoking cabbage," Erik Hunter with non-profit group HempCleans said. "You'd get a taste in your mouth and nothing else. You wouldn't get high."

Because of the trace amounts of THC, hemp remains illegal to grow under federal law.

That wasn't always the case.

A 1942 film title "Hemp for Victory" was produced by the US Department of Agriculture to encourage farmers to grow more hemp crops for the war effort.

The stalks of hemp plants contain fibers that are useful in textiles and rope.

Without textile mills geared for hemp production, Colorado's first hemp crops will likely be harvested for hemp seeds.

Seeds can be pressed for oil, used whole in food, or ground into meal. The THC is eliminated in processing.

"Nobody has ever failed a drug test from eating hemp seeds," Hunter said.

There have been concerns that the low amount of THC in hemp could be concentrated into a drug-grade material, or that hemp crops could be used to disguise fields of drug-grade marijuana.

The bill working through Colorado's legislature would require hemp farmers to register and pay a fee with the state to cover mandatory sampling of plants. Farmers would also need to show they have an agreement with an in-state processor who will take the crops.

Colorado, hemp and the Constitution

The issue of states' rights is coming to a boil now in the US; some are making it legal to grow hemp, and the federal government is overriding this - there is also the question of constitutionality. It is not against the constitution to bar Americans from growing the very crop that gave them the textile to produce the first US flag? And the paper for copies of the Constitution itself? A Colorado farmer is set to put this to the test now that hemp is legal in his state. See below the article in the Denver Post:



Ryan Loflin plans to make history, becoming the nation's first commercial-scale hemp grower in almost 60 years. In a few days, he will plant his hemp crop on a farm in the far southeastern corner of Colorado. Loflin and a handful of other growers are set to capitalize on hemp's new legal status in Colorado.
Plenty of financial, operational and legal challenges lie ahead. But cultivating the marijuana look-alike is no novelty pursuit for Loflin, who owns a company called Colorado Hemp. He sees it as a commodity that one day could help reverse the sagging fortunes of rural Colorado.
"I believe this is really going to revitalize and strengthen farm communities," said Loflin, 40, who grew up on a farm in Springfield but left after high school for a career in construction.
Now he returns, leasing 60 acres of his father's alfalfa farm to plant the crop and install a press to squeeze the oil from hemp seeds. He'll have a jump on other farmers, with 400 starter plants already growing at an indoor facility prior to transplanting them in the field.
Hemp is genetically related to marijuana but contains little or no THC, the psychoactive substance in marijuana.
The sale of hemp products in the U.S. — including food, cosmetics, clothing and industrial materials — reached an estimated $500 million last year, according to the Hemp Industries Association.
Yet because of a federal prohibition on growing, all hemp used in U.S. products is imported from foreign countries.
With the November passage of Amendment 64, which legalized hemp in addition to small amounts of marijuana, Colorado becomes a test case on the issue of how much muscle the federal government will flex against states with legal cannabis.
"Once this market is really able to develop — when the feds get out of the way and eliminate the regulatory hurdles — there is definitely potential for measurable economic impact," said Eric Steenstra, executive director of the Hemp Industries Association.
Springfield banker Jay Suhler allows that there could be economic impact eventually, but don't count him among the boosters yet. He remains circumspect — even with the drought-induced depression that has afflicted southeast Colorado for much of the past decade.
"We're a conservative bunch around here," said Suhler, manager of Frontier Bank.
"I imagine we'd probably stick with our core crops of corn and milo and wheat," he said. "The first few years you try a new crop, it can be pretty iffy. But in a few years, who knows what might happen?"
Two hundred miles north of Springfield, Yuma County corn farmer Mike Bowman also is preparing to plant hemp this year.
Bowman has been a frequent visitor to Washington, D.C., seeking to persuade federal officials to end the hemp prohibition that makes prospective Colorado growers technically criminals.
A hemp-legalization bill is pending this year in Congress, with bipartisan support.
Until the federal-state legal disconnect is resolved, growers face the challenge of starting an industry without the benefits held by conventional farmers, such as federal crop insurance.
Colorado State University, the state's premier agricultural research institution, is not studying hemp because of the fear of losing federal contracts.
"The law is clear on this matter, and we do not want to do anything that would unintentionally result in personal criminal liability for CSU employees or that would disqualify the institution from obtaining future government funding," said Joseph Zimlich, CSU system board of governors chairman, in a recent letter to U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo.
However, Zimlich said the board "will look more closely at the issue of industrial hemp research at its May meeting."
Another practical challenge for farmers is acquiring hemp seed for cultivation. Federal law does not permit the sale or import of nonsterilized seed suitable for growing.
It's the hemp farmer's equivalent of what recreational-marijuana activists call "the year of the magical ounce" — a reference to the unanswered question of how people can obtain marijuana for current legal use before state-permitted retail facilities open in 2014.
Bowman said he has friends who have sent him seed from feral hemp plants that are survivors from decades ago, before hemp was ruled illegal in the U.S.
A benefit of the feral plants is that they carry natural genetic resistance to drought — a desirable quality especially for farmers who hope to grow their crops without irrigation.
Like other prospective farmers, Bowman and Loflin plan to experiment with different seed varieties to determine their traits, especially the ability to produce oil.
Seed oil is viewed as the hemp product in highest demand from food and cosmetics manufacturers. Fiber from hemp stalks is a smaller market.
Loflin and business partner Chris Thompson said that with their own oil press, they plan to become buyers or processors of seed from other growers.
Based on data from Canada's legal hemp industry, hemp seed generates revenue for farmers of $390 an acre, according to Erik Hunter, director of research and development for HempCleans, a Colorado-based advocacy group.
That makes hemp lucrative compared with most other conventional crops.
"I think that once people see the value of hemp," said Loflin, "it'll become a no-brainer."
Steve Raabe: 303-954-1948, sraabe@denverpost.com or twitter.com/steveraabedp


Read more: Colorado hemp grower to plant historic first U.S. crop in decades - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_23066385/colorado-hemp-grower-plant-historic-first-u-s#ixzz2R8S2MPf6
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Colorado working on instituting hemp reform

DENVER - A Colorado legislative committee began work on a bill Wednesday to regulate industrial hemp for growers.
When Colorado voters legalized marijuana last year, they also legalized its industrial cousin, hemp. Since then, Colorado lawmakers have spent a lot of time reviewing marijuana, but they're just starting work on regulating hemp.
If passed, the bill would direct the state Agriculture Department to license hemp growers starting next year.
Industrial hemp looks like marijuana, but it lacks most of the psychoactive properties of its better-known cousin.
Finished hemp is legal under federal law, but growing it is not, so states that legalize hemp must regulate it themselves.
The committee voted 5-0 to create a registry for farmers seeking to raise hemp. The Legislature may also ask the federal government to repeal its industrial hemp ban.

Zonker growing hemp in Colorado in Doonesbury

Colorado is a state where it is legal to grow hemp, although the federal government might come down with the SWAT teams if they do...the issue is HOT, and has now spilled over into one of my fav cartoons - Doonesbury. Michael Roberts in the Denver Westword gives us the scoop on Zonker:

Doonesbury hasn't had a print home in Denver since June 2011, when the Denver Post yanked it. But it can be accessed online, and it's still good. Creator Gary Trudeau remains sharp and engaged; he's not doing the equivalent of repeating Garfield-eating-lasagna jokes.

Case in point: Today's strip, part of a new storyline, in which longtime fave Zonker -- no doubt inspired by our recent cover story, "Green Acres" -- announces he's coming to Colorado to farm hemp under an appropriate new name. Check it out below.
In panel one, Zonker is chatting with a co-worker at McFriendly's, the restaurant where he works -- and a place that continues to supersize in a big way:

That's followed by a panel-two reference to a Colorado icon whose given name most locals know, but many outsiders may not:


The third panel identifies said celebrity and sets up the closing joke:


And then, in panel four, the punchline:


Will more people from around the country soon turn up in Colorado with hemp dreams? Here's an appropriate passage from "Green Acres," written by Melanie Asmar:

When voters legalized retail sales of recreational marijuana last November, a single sentence in the otherwise pot-centric Amendment 64 also made it lawful to grow hemp. That doesn't mean that a hemp industry will sprout overnight, however. While recreational marijuana can lean on the infrastructure currently in place for medical pot, hemp has virtually no road map.
What it does have is a merry band of hempsters, a small but dedicated group of supporters that includes a retired Yellow Pages saleswoman, a self-described mad scientist, the victorious defendant in one of Colorado's landmark medical marijuana cases and a handful of stone-cold sober lawmakers who represent the type of places where people have dirt under their fingernails and make their living off the land. Together, this group is determined to create a hemp industry and position the state at the leading edge of an agricultural boom.

In other words, Zonker may soon have some company -- perhaps named Earl Fort Collins or Marvin Grand Junction.

Amendment 64 in Colorado

Amendment 64 opens doors, legal questions for industrial hemp crop

Workshop scheduled in Loveland Thursday

By Pamela Dickmanreporterherald.com

LOVELAND -- Amendment 64 didn't just change the landscape for officers, lawmakers and marijuana users, it also opened new frontiers for farmers.

The Colorado Constitutional Amendment, known for legalizing recreational use of the drug, also changed state laws to allow farmers to grow industrial hemp, a crop used for many products ranging from cloth to cooking oil.

But, like marijuana, exploration of industrial hemp production is plagued with questions and uncertainties about the difference between state and federal rules.

The issues, challenges and benefits of growing a different, dry land crop in Colorado will be explored at a workshop in Loveland on Thursday. The Hemp Industries Association is hosting the event, which is supported by the Rocky Mountain Farmer's Union.

If You Go What: Colorado Industrial Hemp Farming Symposium, where experts in growing, marketing and legislating the industry will speak. When: 6-9:30 p.m. Thursday. Where: First National Bank Exhibition Hall, The Ranch, 5280 Arena Circle, Loveland. Cost: $15. Info: http://thehia.org/Colorado

“This happens to be a good place to grow it,” said Mick McAllister, spokesman for the Farmer's Union. “With the water problems we're having in Colorado, another dry land crop could be a boon.”

The possibilities are brimming for selling hemp to produce shoes, clothing, bags and even cooking oil, McAllister said.

Not to mention potential benefits to the soil by rotating other crops with industrial hemp, which research indicates could clean pollutants from the soil.

However, there are still risks of violating federal law.

Hemp has been on the federal controlled substance list with marijuana since the 1930s, making it a federal crime to grow. But, one would have to smoke 100 hemp cigarettes in a row to consume the same amount of THC as is found in one marijuana joint, according to McAllister.

The risk of violating federal law, even with a new state law backing production, could prevent farmers from trying the crop because of worries about affecting U.S. Department of Agriculture insurance and other programs, according to information from McAllister.

That is where the Rocky Mountain Farmer's Union is stepping in, hoping to open new doors for agriculture and believing hemp belongs on a list of crops, not drugs.

Members are lobbying Congress to remove hemp from the controlled substance list; a bill to remove hemp from the list is pending as it has been without success every year since 2004, according to McAllister.

Pamela Dickman can be reached at 669-5050, ext. 526, or pdickman@reporter-herald.com. Follow her on Twitter: @pamelalittlebee.

List of US states that are supporting hemp

A quick overview of states' activity re hemp legislation is useful at this time. Most states have cultivated hemp at some time, so there is a record for many to go forward with this initiative; however, there are many states to go.
And then of course there is federal approval needed, which Mina Hegaard is working on with her
petition at www.minawear.com/about-us/ 
Please sign, and if your state is not already looking into hemp, please get in touch with us here and we would love to help out!

So far,  31 states have introduced pro-hemp legislation and 19 have passed pro-hemp legislation.

Eight states (Colorado, Maine, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Vermont,Washington, and West Virginia) have defined industrial hemp as distinct and removed barriers to its production.

Three states (Hawaii, Kentucky, and Maryland) have passed bills creating commissions or authorizing research.

Nine states have passed hemp resolutions: California, Colorado, Illinois, Montana,New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Vermont and Virginia.

Eight states have passed hemp study bills: Arkansas, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, and Vermont. Many other states have done studies without legislative directive.