Farmers who plant industrial hemp in Kentucky soil risk prosecution regardless of a U.S. Department of Justice memo on federal marijuana enforcement issued earlier this year, Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway said Wednesday.
Regardless, the Kentucky Industrial Hemp Commission will continue its effort to launch a hemp-licensing program, said Holly Harris, chief of staff for Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer.
In an advisory opinion to Kentucky State Police Commissioner Rodney Brewer, Conway said hemp remains an illegal substance by federal law. Although the General Assembly passed Senate Bill 50 to set up a regulatory framework for industrial hemp farming, Conway said state law identifies hemp as a cannabis plant with a federally established concentration of tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive ingredient in hemp’s botanical cousin marijuana.
The problem, Conway said, is the federal government has not set such a tetrahydrocannabinol level and still bans hemp in the Controlled Substances Act.
“We do not have either a change in the Controlled Substances Act to exempt industrial hemp, nor do we have a federal waiver from the Drug Enforcement Administration,” Conway told reporters on a conference call.
Comer criticized Conway’s opinion, saying the attorney general “is wrong to threaten to prosecute farmers.”
“Hemp is legal in Kentucky, and the federal government has made it clear that it is not going to prosecute farmers for growing hemp,” Comer said in a statement.
“It makes no sense that Attorney General Conway would throw up an unnecessary government obstacle to an industry that has the potential to create jobs and revenue for Kentucky.”
The hemp commission pressed forward with a licensing program this month in light of a Department of Justice memo that laid out guidelines for prosecuting federal drug laws in Colorado and Washington, the first U.S. states to legalize and regulate recreational marijuana.
Luke Morgan, a Kentucky Department of Agriculture attorney, also presented a 2003 regulation from the Drug Enforcement Administration that separated hemp from marijuana.
The Department of Agriculture is drafting regulations governing hemp farming. Comer and U.S. Sen. Rand Paul will co-sign a letter notifying the Department of Justice of plans to implement a hemp-farming program.
But Conway disputed the department’s interpretations on both documents. The 2003 regulation deals with hemp products but not the plant itself, and the Department of Justice memo does not change the legality of hemp, he said.
“I think it’s irresponsible for anyone to take the Department of Justice’s guidance, their guidance to prosecutors in states that have legalized marijuana, and to take that and contort it that suddenly industrial hemp is now legal in Kentucky,” Conway said. “That’s not the state of the law.”
Conway said he heard concerns from state police and Gov. Steve Beshear’s office after the Department of Justice issued its memo to federal prosecutors, but he has not discussed the issue with Comer, a key supporter of industrial hemp farming in Kentucky.
Harris maintained that the 2003 DEA regulation clarified federal law on hemp and the Department of Justice ruling only cemented hemp’s status as a legal crop.
“It’s legal at the federal level, and it’s legal at the state level,” she said. “It’s legal, period. That is our position.”
Still, Conway’s opinion could have “a chilling effect” on progress made in recruiting hemp manufacturers to Kentucky, Harris said. The opinion does not carry the force of law, but she noted the department might need some clarification on his opinion before licenses are issued.
“It appears what he’s saying is farmers could be subject to prosecution,” Harris said. “Well, that’s not really an answer to that question: Are you going to pursue prosecution of hemp farmers?”
Conway did not say whether he would pursue criminal cases against hemp farmers, but the opinion made plain that those who plant hemp seeds could wind up in court.
“Any farmer that grows industrial hemp for business purposes is thus still subject to any applicable criminal provisions and the financial risks of investing and producing a product that it is illegal for the general public to possess or grow,” the opinion reads.
Showing posts with label James Comer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label James Comer. Show all posts
Friday, September 27, 2013
Letter from Kentucky attorney general
As a footnote to the post below on Kentucky, the URL here will take you to the letter from the state's attorney general with giving the legal status of hemp in that state: http://votehemp.com/PDF/Hemp_advisory_letter_9-25-2013.pdf
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Kentucky hemp farmers may face prosecution
Kentucky hemp farmers chance prosecution
Attorney General Jack Conway says hemp remains illegal substance under federal law
By Kevin Wheatley,Published:
Saturday, September 14, 2013
Oregon set to grow hemp
A historic federal decision not to challenge marijuana legalization in Colorado and Washington is also a green light for industrial hemp production in Oregon, advocates say.
Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene, who co-sponsored a 2009 law legalizing hemp production that has since been on hold, said the new federal stance on marijuana should allow the state to start crafting rules on hemp.
"Sounds like we will be having a conversation with the Department of Agriculture and figuring out what the next steps are," said Prozanski.
And federal authorities appear unlikely to question Prozanski's interpretation of the Aug. 29 memo, written by the Deputy U.S. Attorney General James Cole, laying out the administration's new approach to state marijuana laws.
Amanda Marshall, the U.S. Attorney for Oregon and the state's highest ranking federal law enforcement official, told The Oregonian that her office would not interfere with hemp production in Oregon as long as the state creates "robust" regulatory controls and well-funded enforcement.
"Hemp is cannabis," Marshall said. "It's marijuana, and under federal law, it's exactly the same thing."
Oregon is one of seven states with laws that permit the production of industrial hemp, a non-intoxicating relative of marijuana grown for its sturdy fiber and seeds. But Oregon agriculture officials have held off implementing the 2009 law, saying they would wait until the federal government reclassified marijuana from a substance prone to abuse and lacking medicinal value.
Sen. Floyd Prozanski
Elsewhere in the country, hemp advocates have reacted to the federal government's new position on cannabis by moving ahead with legal hemp production.
Kentucky's top agriculture official said the Cole memo is all he needs to move forward.
James Comer, the elected Republican commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, said U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, also a Republican, plans to fire off a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder Jr.'s office making clear that Kentucky will implement its new industrial hemp law.
"We are going to say, 'This is our how our legal counsel interprets it. We are going to proceed unless you specifically tell us otherwise,'" Comer said.
During a break from meeting with Congressional staffers in Washington, D.C. to press his case Tuesday, Comer said Kentucky has a long history of hemp cultivation. It dates to the 1800s through 1920, and then again during World War II, when hemp was a major crop used in rope.
"It grows well in Kentucky," said Comer, who opposes legalization of marijuana and medical marijuana. "We have been looking for an alternative to tobacco."
Hemp and marijuana are different types of the same species, Cannabis sativa.
But hemp lacks marijuana's most coveted component: THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol. In hemp's case, the gene that fires up marijuana's high THC production is essentially turned off. So while hemp's sturdy stalks provide fiber for textiles and its seeds can be added to yogurt and smoothies, the plant is a lousy choice for people seeking marijuana's high.
"Basically, the breeding of hemp has removed the ability to make THC in that plant," said Jon Page, a plant biochemist and adjunct biology professor at Canada's University of Saskatchewan.
For 50 years, growers have bred strains of hemp for its seed and fiber while dramatically reducing the plant's THC content.
Countries that allow hemp production today sanction a select list of well-established strains that have been bred to have exceptionally low THC. Canada and European countries cap hemp's THC level at less than .3 percent.
Amanda Marshall
Industrial hemp in the United States was regulated beginning in 1937, then outlawed with the passage in 1970 of the Controlled Substances Act. Federal law makes no distinction between hemp and marijuana.
Traditionally, opponents of hemp have worried its cultivation would complicate efforts to enforce marijuana laws. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has said any amount of THC is a concern. The agency also has warned hemp production could be used to conceal marijuana production, because it's difficult to tell the difference between the plants, and that state-sanctioned hemp could lead to legalized marijuana.
Kevin Sabet, an outspoken opponent of marijuana legalization, said prevention experts worry acceptance of hemp "softens the attitude" toward marijuana.
But "aside from a core group activists who think hemp can be an economic boon," he said, hemp is a side issue in the marijuana debate.
Advocates envision a vast American market for the crop.
Federal marijuana policy, however, has been a hurdle. The government can file forfeiture proceedings against assets of people suspected of breaking the law.
"The biggest elephant in the room is civil asset forfeiture," said Tom Murphy, national outreach coordinator for Vote Hemp, an advocacy group. "You would literally be betting the farm to find out if you could grow hemp."
Last month's Cole memo, which spelled out eight priorities that will guide the government's approach to marijuana enforcement, changes the equation, hemp activists hope.
Marshall, Oregon's top federal prosecutor, shed some light on the memo's implications for hemp in an interview last week. The government, she said, would require states to provide the same stringent rules for hemp production that federal officials expect of states that allow recreational and medical cannabis.
"And if they fail to do that, then my office would come in and take action, either by criminally prosecuting individuals or civil forfeitures or potentially attacking the regulatory scheme in court," she said.
David Bronner, in a 2012 photograph, stands with a vat that feeds an assembly line for Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap, which contains hemp oil as a key ingredient.
For a glimpse at what hemp production might mean for states like Oregon, look to Canada and China, major international exporters of hemp.
According to data provided to The Oregonian by Statistics Canada, a government agency, India is the largest market for Canadian hemp by weight, though the United States buys more hemp seed than any other country, generally for food and beauty products. China, also a major international exporter of hemp, tends to produce hemp that's used for textiles.
The value of Canadian hemp has mushroomed since 2008, government statistics show. Last year Canada exported about $20.2 million in hemp, $17.7 million of it to the United States.
However, Canadian industrial hemp production, legalized 15 years ago, remains a niche industry dwarfed by conventional crops like wheat, said Anndrea Hermann, who grows hemp in Canada and teaches a course on industrial hemp at Oregon State University.
Even if states move forward with plans for hemp production, the crop faces considerable challenges. A 2013 report by the Congressional Research Service said the international market for hemp remains small and that global competition is bound to be stiff.
And in the Pacific Northwest, hemp farmers may encounter difficulty growing the crop. A 1998 OSU study concluded hemp would likely need irrigation to maximize productivity, putting it in "direct competition with the highest value crops" in the region.
Oregon agriculture officials said they plan to research whether the federal memo has implications here. Lindsay Eng, a certification manager with the agency, said officials will seek a legal opinion from the Oregon Department of Justice. The chief concern, she said, is marijuana's outlaw status.
Prozanski, the state lawmaker, said he hopes to arrange a meeting with top agriculture officials this month.
Hemp supporters are watching closely what happens in Oregon and elsewhere.
David Bronner, co-owner of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps and a major financial backer of the hemp lobby, said his Escondido, Calif., company imports 40,000 pounds of unrefined hemp seed oil from Canada each year. Hemp makes Dr. Bronner's soaps smoother and less drying, said Bronner.
Bronner said he hopes the Cole memo clears the way for an American hemp industry to take root.
"There is no way that the feds could justify a hands off approach to recreational marijuana and then interfere with industrial hemp," said Bronner. "It makes no sense."
-- Noelle Crombie
Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene, who co-sponsored a 2009 law legalizing hemp production that has since been on hold, said the new federal stance on marijuana should allow the state to start crafting rules on hemp.
"Sounds like we will be having a conversation with the Department of Agriculture and figuring out what the next steps are," said Prozanski.
And federal authorities appear unlikely to question Prozanski's interpretation of the Aug. 29 memo, written by the Deputy U.S. Attorney General James Cole, laying out the administration's new approach to state marijuana laws.
Amanda Marshall, the U.S. Attorney for Oregon and the state's highest ranking federal law enforcement official, told The Oregonian that her office would not interfere with hemp production in Oregon as long as the state creates "robust" regulatory controls and well-funded enforcement.
"Hemp is cannabis," Marshall said. "It's marijuana, and under federal law, it's exactly the same thing."
Oregon is one of seven states with laws that permit the production of industrial hemp, a non-intoxicating relative of marijuana grown for its sturdy fiber and seeds. But Oregon agriculture officials have held off implementing the 2009 law, saying they would wait until the federal government reclassified marijuana from a substance prone to abuse and lacking medicinal value.
Sen. Floyd Prozanski Kentucky's top agriculture official said the Cole memo is all he needs to move forward.
James Comer, the elected Republican commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, said U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, also a Republican, plans to fire off a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder Jr.'s office making clear that Kentucky will implement its new industrial hemp law.
"We are going to say, 'This is our how our legal counsel interprets it. We are going to proceed unless you specifically tell us otherwise,'" Comer said.
During a break from meeting with Congressional staffers in Washington, D.C. to press his case Tuesday, Comer said Kentucky has a long history of hemp cultivation. It dates to the 1800s through 1920, and then again during World War II, when hemp was a major crop used in rope.
"It grows well in Kentucky," said Comer, who opposes legalization of marijuana and medical marijuana. "We have been looking for an alternative to tobacco."
Hemp history
Hemp and marijuana are different types of the same species, Cannabis sativa.
But hemp lacks marijuana's most coveted component: THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol. In hemp's case, the gene that fires up marijuana's high THC production is essentially turned off. So while hemp's sturdy stalks provide fiber for textiles and its seeds can be added to yogurt and smoothies, the plant is a lousy choice for people seeking marijuana's high.
"Basically, the breeding of hemp has removed the ability to make THC in that plant," said Jon Page, a plant biochemist and adjunct biology professor at Canada's University of Saskatchewan.
For 50 years, growers have bred strains of hemp for its seed and fiber while dramatically reducing the plant's THC content.
Countries that allow hemp production today sanction a select list of well-established strains that have been bred to have exceptionally low THC. Canada and European countries cap hemp's THC level at less than .3 percent.
Amanda Marshall Traditionally, opponents of hemp have worried its cultivation would complicate efforts to enforce marijuana laws. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has said any amount of THC is a concern. The agency also has warned hemp production could be used to conceal marijuana production, because it's difficult to tell the difference between the plants, and that state-sanctioned hemp could lead to legalized marijuana.
Kevin Sabet, an outspoken opponent of marijuana legalization, said prevention experts worry acceptance of hemp "softens the attitude" toward marijuana.
But "aside from a core group activists who think hemp can be an economic boon," he said, hemp is a side issue in the marijuana debate.
Advocates envision a vast American market for the crop.
Federal marijuana policy, however, has been a hurdle. The government can file forfeiture proceedings against assets of people suspected of breaking the law.
"The biggest elephant in the room is civil asset forfeiture," said Tom Murphy, national outreach coordinator for Vote Hemp, an advocacy group. "You would literally be betting the farm to find out if you could grow hemp."
Last month's Cole memo, which spelled out eight priorities that will guide the government's approach to marijuana enforcement, changes the equation, hemp activists hope.
Marshall, Oregon's top federal prosecutor, shed some light on the memo's implications for hemp in an interview last week. The government, she said, would require states to provide the same stringent rules for hemp production that federal officials expect of states that allow recreational and medical cannabis.
"And if they fail to do that, then my office would come in and take action, either by criminally prosecuting individuals or civil forfeitures or potentially attacking the regulatory scheme in court," she said.
A new crop?
David Bronner, in a 2012 photograph, stands with a vat that feeds an assembly line for Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap, which contains hemp oil as a key ingredient. According to data provided to The Oregonian by Statistics Canada, a government agency, India is the largest market for Canadian hemp by weight, though the United States buys more hemp seed than any other country, generally for food and beauty products. China, also a major international exporter of hemp, tends to produce hemp that's used for textiles.
The value of Canadian hemp has mushroomed since 2008, government statistics show. Last year Canada exported about $20.2 million in hemp, $17.7 million of it to the United States.
However, Canadian industrial hemp production, legalized 15 years ago, remains a niche industry dwarfed by conventional crops like wheat, said Anndrea Hermann, who grows hemp in Canada and teaches a course on industrial hemp at Oregon State University.
Even if states move forward with plans for hemp production, the crop faces considerable challenges. A 2013 report by the Congressional Research Service said the international market for hemp remains small and that global competition is bound to be stiff.
And in the Pacific Northwest, hemp farmers may encounter difficulty growing the crop. A 1998 OSU study concluded hemp would likely need irrigation to maximize productivity, putting it in "direct competition with the highest value crops" in the region.
The next steps
Oregon agriculture officials said they plan to research whether the federal memo has implications here. Lindsay Eng, a certification manager with the agency, said officials will seek a legal opinion from the Oregon Department of Justice. The chief concern, she said, is marijuana's outlaw status.
Prozanski, the state lawmaker, said he hopes to arrange a meeting with top agriculture officials this month.
Hemp supporters are watching closely what happens in Oregon and elsewhere.
David Bronner, co-owner of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps and a major financial backer of the hemp lobby, said his Escondido, Calif., company imports 40,000 pounds of unrefined hemp seed oil from Canada each year. Hemp makes Dr. Bronner's soaps smoother and less drying, said Bronner.
Bronner said he hopes the Cole memo clears the way for an American hemp industry to take root.
"There is no way that the feds could justify a hands off approach to recreational marijuana and then interfere with industrial hemp," said Bronner. "It makes no sense."
-- Noelle Crombie
Saturday, September 07, 2013
Kentucky to challenge feds on hemp
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.
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.”
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Tennessee considering hemp
This story just in from the Memphis Business Journal:
Following the lead from Kentucky, Tennessee may be beginning to see the start of a pro-hemp farming contingent in its state legislature.
According to the Associated Press, two Republican lawmakers, Sen. Frank Niceley of Strawberry Plains and Rep. Andy Holt of Dresden are drafting legislation seeking to legalize the commercial farming of hemp. The dup plan to introduce the measure in the next legislative session.
Even Senator Lamar Alexander may be interested in the legislation.
"This is a very interesting proposal that has a good economic argument behind it. Unfortunately, an amendment by Sen. Paul to allow industrial hemp to be grown and processed was not considered during the farm bill debate, but Sen. Alexander will carefully consider this issue going forward," Alexander's spokesman, Jim Jeffries, said in an email.
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
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
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
Saturday, July 13, 2013
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.
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.
Monday, June 24, 2013
James Comer fights on in Kentucky
The crop once flourished in Kentucky until it was banned decades ago when the federal government classified it as a controlled substance related to marijuana.
Despite numerous failed attempts to legalize industrial hemp in Kentucky, Commissioner of Agriculture James Comer vows to continue his campaign.
Comer spoke about his efforts to re-establish industrial hemp as a legal crop.
"Industrial hemp is an agricultural crop just like corn and soybeans. It should be legal, and the United States should have legalized it a decade ago," says Comer.
Over 30 countries produce industrial hemp and hemp products can be legally sold in the United States but the hemp must be imported from other countries. Comer believes the crop could be an economic boon for Kentucky.
"If we can have more food processors and more company's that manufacture agricultural products like industrial hemp in small towns that will help create jobs in those small towns and make them more self sustainable."
He adds it could lead to manufacturing jobs that produce products ranging from paper to cosmetics.
"Toyota uses a hemp like fiber in the manufacturing in the interior parts for their vehicles here in Kentucky, that hemp like fiber comes from Indonesia, that should be coming from Kentucky farmers."
The bill is largely unpopular with law enforcement, who says hemp could be used to camouflage marijuana, which has similar looking leaves but far less potency.
"Marijuana and hemp is like broccoli and cauliflower. They're in the same plant family but they're very different plants. They don't look that much alike and they don't taste the same. They're different plants. I am against marijuana. I am not for legalizing marijuana," says Comer.
He says some were skeptical on his recent trip to Washington but he remains optimistic, and will continue educating others about the crop and it's benefits.
"We've come along way in a short period of time and I think industrial hemp will be a reality in the very near future and hopefully Kentucky can be the leading state in that," says Comer.
In the Farm Bill there was an amendment to allow for the production of industrial hemp that was recently passed, although the entire Farm Bill failed Comer says they will start over and re-introduce the bill in the future.
Even though it may still be more than a year away we asked the commissioner if he had any plans to run in the 2015 Gubernatorial Race in Kentucky.
While he didn't give us a yes or no answer he didn't rule out the possibility, and says it's an honor to be considered a potential candidate.
"It's something that we're looking at but right now I'm focused on being AG Commissioner. I love being Commissioner of Agriculture. I love Kentucky. I was a state rep. for 11 years so I know a lot about the issues and challenges our state faces, but right now were focused on trying to grow our agriculture economy in Kentucky."
Comer adds he believes its a good year too early to be announcing any plans for the Gubernatorial Race by any candidate democrat or republican.
Despite numerous failed attempts to legalize industrial hemp in Kentucky, Commissioner of Agriculture James Comer vows to continue his campaign.
Comer spoke about his efforts to re-establish industrial hemp as a legal crop.
"Industrial hemp is an agricultural crop just like corn and soybeans. It should be legal, and the United States should have legalized it a decade ago," says Comer.
Over 30 countries produce industrial hemp and hemp products can be legally sold in the United States but the hemp must be imported from other countries. Comer believes the crop could be an economic boon for Kentucky.
"If we can have more food processors and more company's that manufacture agricultural products like industrial hemp in small towns that will help create jobs in those small towns and make them more self sustainable."
He adds it could lead to manufacturing jobs that produce products ranging from paper to cosmetics.
"Toyota uses a hemp like fiber in the manufacturing in the interior parts for their vehicles here in Kentucky, that hemp like fiber comes from Indonesia, that should be coming from Kentucky farmers."
The bill is largely unpopular with law enforcement, who says hemp could be used to camouflage marijuana, which has similar looking leaves but far less potency.
"Marijuana and hemp is like broccoli and cauliflower. They're in the same plant family but they're very different plants. They don't look that much alike and they don't taste the same. They're different plants. I am against marijuana. I am not for legalizing marijuana," says Comer.
He says some were skeptical on his recent trip to Washington but he remains optimistic, and will continue educating others about the crop and it's benefits.
"We've come along way in a short period of time and I think industrial hemp will be a reality in the very near future and hopefully Kentucky can be the leading state in that," says Comer.
In the Farm Bill there was an amendment to allow for the production of industrial hemp that was recently passed, although the entire Farm Bill failed Comer says they will start over and re-introduce the bill in the future.
Even though it may still be more than a year away we asked the commissioner if he had any plans to run in the 2015 Gubernatorial Race in Kentucky.
While he didn't give us a yes or no answer he didn't rule out the possibility, and says it's an honor to be considered a potential candidate.
"It's something that we're looking at but right now I'm focused on being AG Commissioner. I love being Commissioner of Agriculture. I love Kentucky. I was a state rep. for 11 years so I know a lot about the issues and challenges our state faces, but right now were focused on trying to grow our agriculture economy in Kentucky."
Comer adds he believes its a good year too early to be announcing any plans for the Gubernatorial Race by any candidate democrat or republican.
Friday, June 21, 2013
DEA overruled on hemp bill
The DEA, often called DEA/LER - is an agency which many think is full of drug dealing morons who hate America. It may well be the truth. Congress finally opposed them and their stupid contention that they could not tell hemp from pot - anyone else in the world can, and the first American flag was made of hemp - so these guys may be either bozos or drug dealers or both. For a full account read below:
WASHINGTON -- The House of Representatives on Thursday overcame last-minute lobbying from the Drug Enforcement Administration to pass a farm bill amendment that would legalize the growing of hemp for research purposes. The 225-200 vote came after a flurry of opposition from the DEA, which argued that it would be too difficult for the agency to differentiate legal hemp from illegal marijuana, both varieties of the cannabis plant.
The House amendment, proposed by Reps. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), is far more modest than a Senate effort by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to fully legalize growing hemp for industrial purposes. McConnell had hoped to have his measure inserted into the underlying farm bill or approved on a simple voice vote, but neither path proved open.
Polis said he'd been unsure whether the amendment would pass, but was gratified by the final tally. "We're having a hemp milkshake," he joked to HuffPost afterward. "Break out the hemp ice cream."
"On the merits, this is a no-brainer. Industrial hemp is an important product," he added. "It's perfectly legal, but currently we require that it be imported from other countries. Basically it's taking jobs away from American producers."
Allowing hemp to be grown in this country for research purposes, said Polis, would likely pave the way for Colorado State University to take a closer look at the crop.
Other hemp advocates were bullish about House passage, having had a chance encounter with Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) at the Kentucky Derby in early May. The state's agriculture commissioner, James Comer, bent the ear of Boehner and his chief of staff, after which the speaker invited Comer and others to Capitol Hill for a meeting. Boehner was receptive to their pitch, Comer told The Huffington Post later.
On Wednesday, HuffPost obtained a copy of talking points the DEA was circulating among members of Congress to press them to oppose the amendment. "I saw that ridiculous, inaccurate letter. I'm glad my colleagues in the Congress saw through the bogus attempts to discredit" the hemp amendment, Polis said.
Hemp is legal in many countries, including Canada, and is legal to import but not to grow in the United States. Nineteen states have passed pro-industrial hemp legislation, and nine have removed barriers to its production: Colorado, Kentucky, Maine, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Vermont, Washington and West Virginia.
Polis waved an American flag made of hemp on the House floor during debate over the measure.
The next task for hemp advocates is to keep the provision in the farm bill when the House and Senate versions are melded. "We just wanna make sure this language remains in the conference," Polis said. "We hope that with the help of [Senators] Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul and others, we'll be able to keep it."
A recent HuffPost/YouGov poll found that by a 56 percent to 24 percent margin, most Americans think it should be legal to grow hemp.
WASHINGTON -- The House of Representatives on Thursday overcame last-minute lobbying from the Drug Enforcement Administration to pass a farm bill amendment that would legalize the growing of hemp for research purposes. The 225-200 vote came after a flurry of opposition from the DEA, which argued that it would be too difficult for the agency to differentiate legal hemp from illegal marijuana, both varieties of the cannabis plant.
The House amendment, proposed by Reps. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), is far more modest than a Senate effort by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to fully legalize growing hemp for industrial purposes. McConnell had hoped to have his measure inserted into the underlying farm bill or approved on a simple voice vote, but neither path proved open.
Polis said he'd been unsure whether the amendment would pass, but was gratified by the final tally. "We're having a hemp milkshake," he joked to HuffPost afterward. "Break out the hemp ice cream."
"On the merits, this is a no-brainer. Industrial hemp is an important product," he added. "It's perfectly legal, but currently we require that it be imported from other countries. Basically it's taking jobs away from American producers."
Allowing hemp to be grown in this country for research purposes, said Polis, would likely pave the way for Colorado State University to take a closer look at the crop.
Other hemp advocates were bullish about House passage, having had a chance encounter with Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) at the Kentucky Derby in early May. The state's agriculture commissioner, James Comer, bent the ear of Boehner and his chief of staff, after which the speaker invited Comer and others to Capitol Hill for a meeting. Boehner was receptive to their pitch, Comer told The Huffington Post later.
On Wednesday, HuffPost obtained a copy of talking points the DEA was circulating among members of Congress to press them to oppose the amendment. "I saw that ridiculous, inaccurate letter. I'm glad my colleagues in the Congress saw through the bogus attempts to discredit" the hemp amendment, Polis said.
Hemp is legal in many countries, including Canada, and is legal to import but not to grow in the United States. Nineteen states have passed pro-industrial hemp legislation, and nine have removed barriers to its production: Colorado, Kentucky, Maine, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Vermont, Washington and West Virginia.
Polis waved an American flag made of hemp on the House floor during debate over the measure.
The next task for hemp advocates is to keep the provision in the farm bill when the House and Senate versions are melded. "We just wanna make sure this language remains in the conference," Polis said. "We hope that with the help of [Senators] Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul and others, we'll be able to keep it."
A recent HuffPost/YouGov poll found that by a 56 percent to 24 percent margin, most Americans think it should be legal to grow hemp.
Friday, June 14, 2013
New head of Kentucky Industrial Hemp Commission
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Harrison County farmer Brian Furnish has been chosen as the new chairman of the Kentucky Industrial Hemp Commission.
Furnish said Thursday that Kentucky is at the forefront of efforts to revive the crop.
His election as chairman came during a meeting of the hemp commission. State Agriculture Commissioner James Comer stepped aside as commission chairman in accordance with legislation that passed the General Assembly and is set to take effect.
Under the new law, the agriculture commissioner will serve as the hemp commission's vice chairman.
The state law would allow the crop to be reintroduced, but only if the federal government lifted its prohibition on the plant.
Hemp flourished in Kentucky until it was banned decades ago when the federal government classified it as a controlled substance related to marijuana.
Furnish said Thursday that Kentucky is at the forefront of efforts to revive the crop.
His election as chairman came during a meeting of the hemp commission. State Agriculture Commissioner James Comer stepped aside as commission chairman in accordance with legislation that passed the General Assembly and is set to take effect.
Under the new law, the agriculture commissioner will serve as the hemp commission's vice chairman.
The state law would allow the crop to be reintroduced, but only if the federal government lifted its prohibition on the plant.
Hemp flourished in Kentucky until it was banned decades ago when the federal government classified it as a controlled substance related to marijuana.
Monday, June 10, 2013
Ron Wyden's comments on defeat of Hemp Farming Bill
The Hemp Farming bill failed to pass, and Senator Ron Wyden has made a statement about why; basically there is too much opposition about the dope issue, which is clearly a smoke screen, but he does have a point - the hemp issue ought to be distinct from any pot issue. The 420 movement supports but is not a part of the industrial hemp issue, and many of the pot smokers in the US are selfish drug addicts, child abusers, or worse. I speak from many years of writing about this and supporting both industrial hemp and the rigth to grow cannabis for other purposes - quite importantly, for medical purposes. But I have seen time wasted by selfish dope addicts who shout me down and have no care about anyone else in the world and have tarnished the image of hemp. The are NOT cool as they think they are, they are hurting the US economy and that is how they will be remembered.
Below is the report from the Huffington Post:
Below is the report from the Huffington Post:
WASHINGTON -- Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), following the demise of his effort to legalize industrial hemp production Thursday, pinned the failure on disorganized advocates who had not "clearly separated from advocacy for cannabis."
Finger-pointing after a legislative loss is not an uncommon feature of Congress, but Wyden wasted no time. "Between the generational misconceptions about hemp within the Congress, continued opposition from the Drug Enforcement Agency, [sic] and no clear opportunity to vote on further Farm Bill amendments, the time is not yet ripe for industrial hemp," he said in a public statement. "Better organized advocacy on behalf of hemp, clearly separated from advocacy for cannabis, is vital to overcoming these obstacles. As we continue to build support and look for other avenues, state agricultural commissioners, farmers and business that would benefit from this legislation need to help get the facts out there and push for Congress to pass this bill."
The main advocacy group working for the amendment was Vote Hemp, which Holly Harris, chief of staff to Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer (R) previously called "the greatest grassroots operation I've ever seen."
It may be the greatest, but it certainly isn't the largest. The group boasts a volunteer board and staff of two, Tom Murphy and Ben Droz, neither of whom is employed full time with the organization. Eric Steenstra, who worked regularly with Senate offices throughout the process, is a volunteer. The most recently available tax form on Guidestar.org from 2008 lists total revenue and contributions just north of $17,000.
What worked at the state level wasn't quite ready for Washington. Vote Hemp played a leading role in passing a law legalizing hemp in Kentucky this year, a state not known for embracing hippies. The bill became law despite the opposition of powerful leaders in the state. The Democratic governor let it become law without his signature, McConnell surprised the state by supporting it, and the Democratic House passed it despite opposition from key leaders.
Harris said she worked closely with Vote Hemp during the legislative fight in Kentucky and when members were wavering, the group could turn up persuasive farmers and businessmen quickly. Hemp advocates don't have such an infrastructure on the national level, owing in part to the simple fact that hemp is illegal to grow, and therefore there are no growers to defend it.
One Democratic aide who'd been involved in the Senate effort said that Wyden deserves "credit for admitting there needs to be work done and this issue can't just be slipped into a bill."
The failed hemp saga is a window as well into the limits of an individual senator's power, absent corporate or interest group support. And, as gun control advocates learned earlier, broad public support isn't enough. A HuffPost/YouGov poll recently found 2-1 support for legalizing industrial hemp growing. Senators are powerful in their ability to block legislation, but positively enacting it is more difficult. In those instances, they serve as the brokers of someone else's power, rather than holding power in their own right.
That was true even for Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) who worked hard behind the scenes to insert the hemp provision into the farm bill, first at the committee level and then later on the floor. The measure also had the active support of Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a tea party favorite, as well as backing from Sens. Jeff Merkley and Wyden, both Democrats of Oregon.
HuffPost, in canvassing senators, found only one flatly opposed, while most were simply not familiar with the issue. Hemp is related to marijuana, but has such a small psychoactive ingredient that it is not possible to smoke enough to get high. Nevertheless, the perception that it is somehow drug related persists in the Senate.
Wyden's swipe at advocates, said Adam Eidinger, a former Vote Hemp spokesman who worked on the bill, is illogical and insulting. Hemp is only illegal because it is related to its psychoactive cousin, so it's not the advocates who need to separate the two, he argued.
"Senator Wyden makes a lame excuse for not getting the votes. Hemp is illegal because of marijuana prohibition that has overstepped, not because there is something wrong with hemp. I say, admit failure, bro, and blame your colleagues' narrow mindedness, not the hemp advocates," Eidinger told HuffPost. "His statement is insulting, yes."
Steenstra said that he takes no offense, however. "I was trying to read between the lines on that [statement]. I didn't take it that way," he said of Eidinger's reaction. "I think Senator Wyden is taking a long-term approach to this and maybe the rush to get this into the farm bill -- he thought we needed a little more time before we jumped into this."
The hemp sprint was still a valuable exercise. "It enabled us to engage in the dialogue with the staffs, because in the past they wouldn't want to meet with us because we didn't have anything pending," he said. "It's a process, sometimes these votes take awhile. We just have to keep coming back."
During the process, advocates won the support of Sen. Pat Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Judiciary Committee, which has oversight of hemp policy, a major step forward, Steenstra noted. Advocates also bent the ear of House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) after Comer lobbied him at the Kentucky Derby.
While the farm bill was being debated, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) approached Paul and offered to give Paul a vote on the amendment on the Senate floor, according to an aide to Agriculture Chairwoman Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), whose staff witnessed the exchange. Paul began canvassing his colleagues for support, and reported back that not enough existed to move forward yet.
Unable to get a voice vote or slip the provision into the underlying bill, the advocates weren't able to assure senators that they had the 60 votes needed for amendment passage. "We didn't actually know," said Steenstra. "We could not clearly count that we had the votes."
Eidinger said he hopes that Wyden will press for hearings "so the senators who need to learn a thing or two still about hemp can make inquiries. I hope Wyden will help make hearings the way forward, not a blame game."
Finger-pointing after a legislative loss is not an uncommon feature of Congress, but Wyden wasted no time. "Between the generational misconceptions about hemp within the Congress, continued opposition from the Drug Enforcement Agency, [sic] and no clear opportunity to vote on further Farm Bill amendments, the time is not yet ripe for industrial hemp," he said in a public statement. "Better organized advocacy on behalf of hemp, clearly separated from advocacy for cannabis, is vital to overcoming these obstacles. As we continue to build support and look for other avenues, state agricultural commissioners, farmers and business that would benefit from this legislation need to help get the facts out there and push for Congress to pass this bill."
The main advocacy group working for the amendment was Vote Hemp, which Holly Harris, chief of staff to Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer (R) previously called "the greatest grassroots operation I've ever seen."
It may be the greatest, but it certainly isn't the largest. The group boasts a volunteer board and staff of two, Tom Murphy and Ben Droz, neither of whom is employed full time with the organization. Eric Steenstra, who worked regularly with Senate offices throughout the process, is a volunteer. The most recently available tax form on Guidestar.org from 2008 lists total revenue and contributions just north of $17,000.
What worked at the state level wasn't quite ready for Washington. Vote Hemp played a leading role in passing a law legalizing hemp in Kentucky this year, a state not known for embracing hippies. The bill became law despite the opposition of powerful leaders in the state. The Democratic governor let it become law without his signature, McConnell surprised the state by supporting it, and the Democratic House passed it despite opposition from key leaders.
Harris said she worked closely with Vote Hemp during the legislative fight in Kentucky and when members were wavering, the group could turn up persuasive farmers and businessmen quickly. Hemp advocates don't have such an infrastructure on the national level, owing in part to the simple fact that hemp is illegal to grow, and therefore there are no growers to defend it.
One Democratic aide who'd been involved in the Senate effort said that Wyden deserves "credit for admitting there needs to be work done and this issue can't just be slipped into a bill."
That was true even for Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) who worked hard behind the scenes to insert the hemp provision into the farm bill, first at the committee level and then later on the floor. The measure also had the active support of Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a tea party favorite, as well as backing from Sens. Jeff Merkley and Wyden, both Democrats of Oregon.
HuffPost, in canvassing senators, found only one flatly opposed, while most were simply not familiar with the issue. Hemp is related to marijuana, but has such a small psychoactive ingredient that it is not possible to smoke enough to get high. Nevertheless, the perception that it is somehow drug related persists in the Senate.
Wyden's swipe at advocates, said Adam Eidinger, a former Vote Hemp spokesman who worked on the bill, is illogical and insulting. Hemp is only illegal because it is related to its psychoactive cousin, so it's not the advocates who need to separate the two, he argued.
"Senator Wyden makes a lame excuse for not getting the votes. Hemp is illegal because of marijuana prohibition that has overstepped, not because there is something wrong with hemp. I say, admit failure, bro, and blame your colleagues' narrow mindedness, not the hemp advocates," Eidinger told HuffPost. "His statement is insulting, yes."
Steenstra said that he takes no offense, however. "I was trying to read between the lines on that [statement]. I didn't take it that way," he said of Eidinger's reaction. "I think Senator Wyden is taking a long-term approach to this and maybe the rush to get this into the farm bill -- he thought we needed a little more time before we jumped into this."
The hemp sprint was still a valuable exercise. "It enabled us to engage in the dialogue with the staffs, because in the past they wouldn't want to meet with us because we didn't have anything pending," he said. "It's a process, sometimes these votes take awhile. We just have to keep coming back."
During the process, advocates won the support of Sen. Pat Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Judiciary Committee, which has oversight of hemp policy, a major step forward, Steenstra noted. Advocates also bent the ear of House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) after Comer lobbied him at the Kentucky Derby.
While the farm bill was being debated, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) approached Paul and offered to give Paul a vote on the amendment on the Senate floor, according to an aide to Agriculture Chairwoman Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), whose staff witnessed the exchange. Paul began canvassing his colleagues for support, and reported back that not enough existed to move forward yet.
Unable to get a voice vote or slip the provision into the underlying bill, the advocates weren't able to assure senators that they had the 60 votes needed for amendment passage. "We didn't actually know," said Steenstra. "We could not clearly count that we had the votes."
Eidinger said he hopes that Wyden will press for hearings "so the senators who need to learn a thing or two still about hemp can make inquiries. I hope Wyden will help make hearings the way forward, not a blame game."
Thursday, June 06, 2013
Debate on hemp heats up in DC
This is from the Huffington Post, which follows this issue now that it is hot:
WASHINGTON -- The attempt to move industrial hemp legalization through the Senate as part of the farm bill is running into stiff resistance from law enforcement, threatening to derail the effort.
Hemp is a non-psychoactive relative of marijuana that is banned for its familial association. Hemp products are legal to import and sell in the United States, but the plant cannot be grown without a license from the Drug Enforcement Administration -- which, unsurprisingly, the agency rarely grants.
Legalizing hemp crops has the backing of two Kentucky Republicans, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and tea party favorite Sen. Rand Paul, and two Oregon Democrats, Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley. McConnell, taking the tactical lead, has been pressing either to simply insert the hemp language into the underlying farm bill or to specifically add it through a voice vote (rather than a recorded vote), according to multiple people involved in the negotiations. The Senate will return to debate on the farm bill Thursday morning.
The purpose of a voice vote would be twofold: First, it would give senators a low-profile way to support an issue still perceived as controversial and strongly opposed by police and prosecutors. "Law enforcement is very opposed," said one top Democratic aide, explaining the reluctance to hold a floor vote.
Second, because there has not been a hemp vote in modern memory, supporters are uncertain that they have the 60 votes needed to meet the threshold for farm bill amendments.
A voice vote would also require unanimous consent, which means that a single senator could object and force a roll call. On Tuesday, Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) told HuffPost that he was a longtime hemp opponent. "I just have concerns about legalizing hemp production, and so I've never been a supporter of it," he said, citing "law enforcement concern." Johanns is retiring after the 2014 elections.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), according to three Senate aides involved with negotiations, told McConnell he would be willing to allow hemp to come up for a vote as a farm bill amendment. They say McConnell declined, insisting that he wanted it either made part of the base bill or added as a voice vote.
A McConnell aide disputed that Reid offered the minority leader a vote. Aides to Reid and to Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) insisted that such an offer was made. It was delivered in person to McConnell staff on the floor of the Senate by Reid's agriculture counsel, a Reid aide said.
A Stabenow aide said that Stabenow staff witnessed both Reid's aide making the offer on the floor to McConnell staff and Reid personally making the offer to Rand Paul on the Senate floor, after which Paul canvassed his colleagues on the floor for potential support.
The Republican side of the effort doesn't appear to be working in unison. On Tuesday, according to two Democratic aides involved with the talks, the Senate Republican Policy Committee insisted that hemp be included as one of the amendments to receive a vote or Republicans would not agree to a final list. But McConnell had already been offered and declined such a vote.
Moving to a voice vote traditionally requires sign-off from the bill's floor managers, as well as from the chairman and the ranking member of the Senate committee with jurisdiction. Judiciary Committee Chairman Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) has expressed support, and Stabenow, who is shepherding the farm bill, has said she's open to a vote.
But Stabenow's Republican counterpart told HuffPost Tuesday that he wasn't aware of having signed off on any hemp amendment. "I haven't had it brought to my attention," Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) said.
"We'll be disappointed if there's not a voice vote," said Holly Harris, chief of staff to Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer, a Republican who ran on legalizing hemp and managed to push it through the state Legislature. He has been on Capitol Hill lobbying for it.
Wyden, who has introduced a hemp bill in successive Congresses, said Tuesday that he was planning to talk with Stabenow regarding a possible vote.
Hemp is not an issue that many senators have thought much about. HuffPost canvassed a wide swath from both parties and found most of them without enough information to form an opinion. Even those from farm states who have been supportive in the past were reluctant to take a stand on it -- with the exception of Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), who said she remains a longtime backer.
"We passed it in our state for our farmers, and what we ran into is the federal restriction and specifically the DEA, their concern," said Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.). "So industrial hemp I think it's reasonable to grow, but we've got to work it out with law enforcement." After asking if McConnell was backing the amendment, Hoeven added that he plans to examine it with an open mind.
"I've been supportive of it, but I'd have to look at it," said Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.).
Even Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a tea party ally of Rand Paul's, told HuffPost that he hadn't made up his mind on Paul's amendment. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), another advocate of states' rights, said simply "no" when asked if he would back the McConnell-Paul effort. Asked why not, he added, "I haven't looked at the issue."
Wyden said that he is continuing to lobby his colleagues, frequently pointing out to them that if the finished product can be purchased at Costco, there's no reason farmers in the U.S. shouldn't be able to grow it. He's also working to convince them that nobody can get high by smoking hemp.
"The first challenge we have -- and suffice to say, this has been the case for some time -- is to make sure that people see the THC level, which of course is the active ingredient, is very different with hemp than it is with marijuana," Wyden said.
A recent HuffPost/YouGov poll found that, by a 56 percent to 24 percent margin, most Americans think it should be legal to grow hemp in the U.S.
Hemp is a non-psychoactive relative of marijuana that is banned for its familial association. Hemp products are legal to import and sell in the United States, but the plant cannot be grown without a license from the Drug Enforcement Administration -- which, unsurprisingly, the agency rarely grants.
Legalizing hemp crops has the backing of two Kentucky Republicans, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and tea party favorite Sen. Rand Paul, and two Oregon Democrats, Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley. McConnell, taking the tactical lead, has been pressing either to simply insert the hemp language into the underlying farm bill or to specifically add it through a voice vote (rather than a recorded vote), according to multiple people involved in the negotiations. The Senate will return to debate on the farm bill Thursday morning.
The purpose of a voice vote would be twofold: First, it would give senators a low-profile way to support an issue still perceived as controversial and strongly opposed by police and prosecutors. "Law enforcement is very opposed," said one top Democratic aide, explaining the reluctance to hold a floor vote.
Second, because there has not been a hemp vote in modern memory, supporters are uncertain that they have the 60 votes needed to meet the threshold for farm bill amendments.
A voice vote would also require unanimous consent, which means that a single senator could object and force a roll call. On Tuesday, Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) told HuffPost that he was a longtime hemp opponent. "I just have concerns about legalizing hemp production, and so I've never been a supporter of it," he said, citing "law enforcement concern." Johanns is retiring after the 2014 elections.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), according to three Senate aides involved with negotiations, told McConnell he would be willing to allow hemp to come up for a vote as a farm bill amendment. They say McConnell declined, insisting that he wanted it either made part of the base bill or added as a voice vote.
A Stabenow aide said that Stabenow staff witnessed both Reid's aide making the offer on the floor to McConnell staff and Reid personally making the offer to Rand Paul on the Senate floor, after which Paul canvassed his colleagues on the floor for potential support.
The Republican side of the effort doesn't appear to be working in unison. On Tuesday, according to two Democratic aides involved with the talks, the Senate Republican Policy Committee insisted that hemp be included as one of the amendments to receive a vote or Republicans would not agree to a final list. But McConnell had already been offered and declined such a vote.
Moving to a voice vote traditionally requires sign-off from the bill's floor managers, as well as from the chairman and the ranking member of the Senate committee with jurisdiction. Judiciary Committee Chairman Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) has expressed support, and Stabenow, who is shepherding the farm bill, has said she's open to a vote.
But Stabenow's Republican counterpart told HuffPost Tuesday that he wasn't aware of having signed off on any hemp amendment. "I haven't had it brought to my attention," Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) said.
"We'll be disappointed if there's not a voice vote," said Holly Harris, chief of staff to Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer, a Republican who ran on legalizing hemp and managed to push it through the state Legislature. He has been on Capitol Hill lobbying for it.
Wyden, who has introduced a hemp bill in successive Congresses, said Tuesday that he was planning to talk with Stabenow regarding a possible vote.
Hemp is not an issue that many senators have thought much about. HuffPost canvassed a wide swath from both parties and found most of them without enough information to form an opinion. Even those from farm states who have been supportive in the past were reluctant to take a stand on it -- with the exception of Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), who said she remains a longtime backer.
"We passed it in our state for our farmers, and what we ran into is the federal restriction and specifically the DEA, their concern," said Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.). "So industrial hemp I think it's reasonable to grow, but we've got to work it out with law enforcement." After asking if McConnell was backing the amendment, Hoeven added that he plans to examine it with an open mind.
"I've been supportive of it, but I'd have to look at it," said Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.).
Even Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a tea party ally of Rand Paul's, told HuffPost that he hadn't made up his mind on Paul's amendment. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), another advocate of states' rights, said simply "no" when asked if he would back the McConnell-Paul effort. Asked why not, he added, "I haven't looked at the issue."
Wyden said that he is continuing to lobby his colleagues, frequently pointing out to them that if the finished product can be purchased at Costco, there's no reason farmers in the U.S. shouldn't be able to grow it. He's also working to convince them that nobody can get high by smoking hemp.
"The first challenge we have -- and suffice to say, this has been the case for some time -- is to make sure that people see the THC level, which of course is the active ingredient, is very different with hemp than it is with marijuana," Wyden said.
A recent HuffPost/YouGov poll found that, by a 56 percent to 24 percent margin, most Americans think it should be legal to grow hemp in the U.S.
Monday, May 20, 2013
DC fails to include hemp in the farming bills
After all the efforts of Americans all over the nation, especially those in Kentucky,
where the agricultural commissioner James Comer campaigns with both senators and a congressman to make hemp legal, DC has refused to listen and has sided with financial terrorists who hate America, hate hemp, etc. OK, I may be going a bit far to put it that way but the perception is valid that that is how it is. Impeach them all if they cannot do their jobs, even if that perception is not the reality. Then again, is it not a tenet on Wall Street that perception is reality? So I am not far off in making such robust statements, ecpecially at a time when their failure means America's failure. Below is the latest on the federal farming bills:
WASHINGTON – The House and Senate agriculture committees have drafted farm bills that do not include provisions to legalize industrial hemp production.
The hemp provision has broad bipartisan support among Kentucky state and federal officials and enjoys considerable bipartisan backing in Congress.
Kentucky officials, as well as those in many other states, consider industrial hemp to be a potentially major economic benefit for farmers and business.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., explored the possibility of inserting a hemp provision in the Senate farm measure but did not find quite enough enthusiasm to prevail.
McConnell spokesman Robert Steurer said the absence of the hemp provision was one reason the Senate GOP leader opposed the farm bill.
The senator also was concerned about the overall cost of the measure, according to his office.
Nevertheless, Steurer said, McConnell and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., “continue to look at several options to move the hemp legislation through the Senate.”
“While the farm bill markup was one vehicle, it’s not the one and only option,” Steurer said.
Theoretically, an amendment to the farm bill legalizing hemp could be offered on the Senate or House floors. Or a hemp provision could be offered as an amendment to other legislation.
We asked the office of Rep. Thomas Massie, R-4th District, about his next plans for getting a hemp provision passed in the House, but the Kentuckian’s office so far has not responded to our inquiry.
where the agricultural commissioner James Comer campaigns with both senators and a congressman to make hemp legal, DC has refused to listen and has sided with financial terrorists who hate America, hate hemp, etc. OK, I may be going a bit far to put it that way but the perception is valid that that is how it is. Impeach them all if they cannot do their jobs, even if that perception is not the reality. Then again, is it not a tenet on Wall Street that perception is reality? So I am not far off in making such robust statements, ecpecially at a time when their failure means America's failure. Below is the latest on the federal farming bills:
WASHINGTON – The House and Senate agriculture committees have drafted farm bills that do not include provisions to legalize industrial hemp production.
The hemp provision has broad bipartisan support among Kentucky state and federal officials and enjoys considerable bipartisan backing in Congress.
Kentucky officials, as well as those in many other states, consider industrial hemp to be a potentially major economic benefit for farmers and business.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., explored the possibility of inserting a hemp provision in the Senate farm measure but did not find quite enough enthusiasm to prevail.
McConnell spokesman Robert Steurer said the absence of the hemp provision was one reason the Senate GOP leader opposed the farm bill.
The senator also was concerned about the overall cost of the measure, according to his office.
Nevertheless, Steurer said, McConnell and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., “continue to look at several options to move the hemp legislation through the Senate.”
“While the farm bill markup was one vehicle, it’s not the one and only option,” Steurer said.
Theoretically, an amendment to the farm bill legalizing hemp could be offered on the Senate or House floors. Or a hemp provision could be offered as an amendment to other legislation.
We asked the office of Rep. Thomas Massie, R-4th District, about his next plans for getting a hemp provision passed in the House, but the Kentuckian’s office so far has not responded to our inquiry.
Friday, May 10, 2013
More from the Huffington Post
Hemp sprouts.
More from the Huffington Post by Ryan Grim and Lucia Graves: This venue started to take up this issue rather late and reluctantly, it is one that we have contacted many times in the past and have been totally ignored, so we do welcome the fact that they are finally working on it, but truth to tell, they only did so when it started to go viral and they had no other choice. They did little more than the mainstream press - in fact less, as the LA Times has had an excellent feature on hemp a few years back and this year in an editorial wholeheartedly endorsed it. But for what (little) it's worth, here is the HP contribution, better late than never...for those of you really willing to work on this, there is a petition to the White House to sign at:
www.minawear.com/about-us/
WASHINGTON
-- A chance encounter at last weekend's Kentucky Derby may have given the hemp
industry the break it's been looking for since the crop was banned in 1970, when
the federal government classified it as a controlled substance related to
marijuana.
Kentucky's
Commissioner of Agriculture James Comer, a Republican, told The Huffington Post
that he was at a private pre-derby party on Saturday when he found himself
chatting with House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and his chief of staff Mike
Sommers. Comer talked shop.
The
topic at hand was the fate of the hemp industry in Kentucky, which could become
the first state in the nation to successfully lobby for federal approval.
Boehner and Sommers were interested enough to invite Comer and the chief
supporters of the state's legalization bill to a meeting in Washington.
On
Tuesday night, Boehner sat down with Comer and the bill's lead backers,
Republican state Sen. Paul Hornback and Democrat Jonathan Miller, a former
Kentucky state treasurer who currently serves on the Kentucky Industrial Hemp
Commission (and who also moonlights as a HuffPost
blogger). Sommers confirmed the meeting took place.
According
to Comer, Boehner told the trio he would talk with Senate Minority Leader Mitch
McConnell (R-Ky.) about how a federal bill might be moved forward to remove hemp
from the list of controlled substances. On Thursday, Comer and the Kentucky
legislators plan to meet with McConnell, who surprised observers back home by
endorsing Hornback's hemp bill, a move that quickly brought the state GOP in
line.
The
most likely path to passage for hemp legislation runs through the farm bill, as
an amendment. That bill goes up for debate in the Senate Agriculture
Committee next week -- fortuitous timing for hemp.
"I
was impressed with his knowledge of this issue," Comer said of Boehner. "At the
end he said, 'This is funny, because this issue's been around a long time. My
daughter was talking about this 15 years ago.' So this is something he knows a
lot about. And the difference today, as opposed to 10 years ago, is the only
people who were pushing this issue 10 years ago were the extreme right or left,
or people who wanted to legalize marijuana." Comer spoke with HuffPost and a
Roll Call reporter in the office of Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), their home base
while they're in Washington, working with the group Vote Hemp, which advocates
on behalf of the industry.
Kentucky's
hemp bill, Senate Bill 50, became law in April and allows Bluegrass State
farmers to grow industrial hemp for the first time in decades. Kentucky Gov.
Steve Beshear and local police have expressed concerns that allowing farmers to
cultivate hemp would enable them to disguise the cultivation of illegal
marijuana, which looks very similar to hemp but contains much higher levels of
THC, the psychoactive agent in cannabis. Experts dismissed that argument, noting
that cross-pollination between hemp plants and marijuana plants would
significantly reduce the potency of the marijuana and devalue the crop. Beshear
and Kentucky police remained skeptical, though the governor did not ultimately
veto the legislation, letting it become law without his signature.
The
chief objection, Miller said, came from a small element of law enforcement who
feared "that this is a slippery slope, that they would lose money with marijuana
eradication." The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, however, backed the bill.
Now
Kentucky awaits federal action to approve the plant's cultivation. The Drug
Enforcement Administration currently classifies hemp as a Schedule I substance
with "a high potential for abuse," alongside heroin and LSD, despite the fact
that industrial hemp has zero potential for abuse.
Comer
said that the DEA has so far declined to meet with him or the Kentucky
lawmakers, so they are hoping instead to meet with the Department of Justice,
which oversees the DEA. He said that meetings with the Departments of Energy and
Agriculture went well.
Paul
and McConnell are co-sponsoring federal legislation that would remove the plant
from the DEA's list of illegal drugs. A similar effort is also underway in the
House, boosted by members of Kentucky's congressional delegation, with the
exception of Rep. Harold Rogers (R). Should those efforts fail, the senators
have vowed to seek a waiver from the DEA granting Kentucky special dispensation
to grow hemp.
Other
states that have also passed local laws allowing hemp licensure include Vermont,
North Dakota, Maine, Montana, Oregon, Washington, West Virginia and Colorado.
While some have sought federal validation of state laws from the DEA, those
efforts have been unsuccessful to date.
Huffington Post and the liberals embrace hemp
Hemp is starting to go viral: Doonesbury characters, top GOP leaders, green gurus, yoga practicioners, you name it - this is the year for hemp. The left almost got left out - while the GOP took the lead - and is now trying to jump back in; Jonathan Miller has this to say on the Huffington Post, Ms. Huffington is just now getting on the bandwagon - another rich lefty from the wine and cheese circuit - whose $ ironically comes from oil - after divorcing her rich husband - so I might have some ironic comments after so many years of campaigning so hard and seeing the lefties wait and wait till they can make some $ off of it and try to take credit for what they did not support till others came along and did it. But for what it's worth, here is their rant as another log on the fire, and I welcome it, even if with sceptisism - note that Ms Huffington is NOT wearing any hemp - most of these lefties talk a lot and do nothing. Not that I am in the right - consider me a plain talking take-no-nonsense centrist:
This week, I have the honor and pleasure of joining Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer as we meet in Washington, D.C. with an impressive swath of Obama Administration officials — from the White House to the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Energy to the Environmental Protection Agency — to seek their help in securing the federal legalization of industrial hemp.
Think the pairing of this proud progressive and the conservative Comer to be somewhat unusual? Let me further blow your political assumptions: We will be joined in our advocacy by the unlikely alliance of GOP Establishment favorite Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Tea Party poster child Senator Rand Paul, and liberal Democratic stalwart Congressman John Yarmuth.
This rare burst of No Labels-style Washington bi-partisanship is merely a reflection of the broad, deep and diverse support for hemp’s legalization among Kentuckians of all political persuasions. This March, the Kentucky General Assembly overwhelmingly passed Senate Bill 50 — sponsored by GOP Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Paul Hornback, and strongly championed by Democratic House Minority Leader Rocky Adkins — that establishes an administrative and law enforcement structure for hemp growers should the crop be legalized at the federal level, and would empower Kentucky to jump to the front of the line and establish itself as the national leader on the crop once federal approval was granted.
How have liberals, conservatives and everyone in between found such common ground? It’s because the case for hemp legalization is so compelling:
Accordingly, Comer and I — and our bipartisan federal delegation — will be lobbying Obama Administration officials this week to provide Kentucky a waiver from the federal regulations; or better yet, to encourage the DEA to reclassify industrial hemp as legal, regulated agricultural crop.
But while our lobbying efforts will hopefully produce some progress, the key power is in your hands. While a majority of Americans now support legalized marijuana — and presumably a much larger majority supports legal hemp — only when you share your support with your elected officials will they feel the political pressure to take action.
Here are three very simple things that you can do — right now, at your computer — to register your support for legalized industrial hemp and pressure Washington to fulfill the people’s will:
This week, I have the honor and pleasure of joining Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer as we meet in Washington, D.C. with an impressive swath of Obama Administration officials — from the White House to the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Energy to the Environmental Protection Agency — to seek their help in securing the federal legalization of industrial hemp.
Think the pairing of this proud progressive and the conservative Comer to be somewhat unusual? Let me further blow your political assumptions: We will be joined in our advocacy by the unlikely alliance of GOP Establishment favorite Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Tea Party poster child Senator Rand Paul, and liberal Democratic stalwart Congressman John Yarmuth.
This rare burst of No Labels-style Washington bi-partisanship is merely a reflection of the broad, deep and diverse support for hemp’s legalization among Kentuckians of all political persuasions. This March, the Kentucky General Assembly overwhelmingly passed Senate Bill 50 — sponsored by GOP Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Paul Hornback, and strongly championed by Democratic House Minority Leader Rocky Adkins — that establishes an administrative and law enforcement structure for hemp growers should the crop be legalized at the federal level, and would empower Kentucky to jump to the front of the line and establish itself as the national leader on the crop once federal approval was granted.
How have liberals, conservatives and everyone in between found such common ground? It’s because the case for hemp legalization is so compelling:
- While support for legalizing hemp’s distant cousin, marijuana, remains controversial (I support legal pot; Comer does not), hemp is not marijuana. The two plants are quite distinct in the way that they appear physically and are cultivated agriculturally. Moreover, smoking hemp can’t get you high; it just might make you feel a little stupid that you tried. Industrial hemp has less than one percent THC, while marijuana ranges from 5 to 20 percent THC content.
- Legalized industrial hemp production could emerge as a prolific cash crop that could bring hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue to Kentucky, and many billions of dollars to the United States. There are more than 25,000 uses for the crop, including rope, clothing, automotive paneling and door installation — even makeup.
- Most exciting to me — as a clean energy advocate — is hemp’s application as a clean-burning alternative fuel. Hemp burns with no carbon emissions and produces twice as much ethanol per acre as corn. While bio-fuels critics have raised alarms at the diversion of food products into fuel production — causing spikes in food prices — hemp has no such negative economic side effects. As the U.S. struggles with the dual enormous challenges of climate change and dependence on foreign oil, industrial hemp could become a powerful weapon in America’s energy independence arsenal.
Accordingly, Comer and I — and our bipartisan federal delegation — will be lobbying Obama Administration officials this week to provide Kentucky a waiver from the federal regulations; or better yet, to encourage the DEA to reclassify industrial hemp as legal, regulated agricultural crop.
But while our lobbying efforts will hopefully produce some progress, the key power is in your hands. While a majority of Americans now support legalized marijuana — and presumably a much larger majority supports legal hemp — only when you share your support with your elected officials will they feel the political pressure to take action.
Here are three very simple things that you can do — right now, at your computer — to register your support for legalized industrial hemp and pressure Washington to fulfill the people’s will:
- Contact your Senators to urge them to co-sponsor and support S. 359, the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2013. introduced by Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Rand Paul (R-KY) that would exclude hemp from the definition of marijuana and allow states to legalize and regulate the product.
- Contact your Congressman and urge him or her to co-sponsor the companion bill in the House, H.R. 525, the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2013, introduced by Congressman Thomas Massie (R-KY).
- Sign the following petition to President Obama, urging his Administration to lift the barriers to legalized hemp: www.minawear.com/about-us/
Wednesday, May 08, 2013
Warm welcome in Washington for hemp
A top Kentucky official on a mission to legalize industrial hemp said Wednesday he got a warm Washington welcome from both administration officials and House Speaker John Boehner.
Kentucky Agricultural Commissioner James Comer told POLITICO both Boehner and officials from the White House and Agricultural and Energy departments seemed open to legalizing the plant, which is a close cousin of marijuana and whose growth is outlawed in the United States.
“I just think if more and more people studied this issue they would realize this is a no-brainer,” said Comer, a Republican who used a similar economy-focused message to push hemp legalization through the state’s general assembly earlier this year. “This is a way to create jobs.”
The centrist nature of the commissioner’s pitch won him establishment support in Kentucky, including endorsements from the state’s Chamber of Commerce and the Louisville Courier-Journal. Comer and other backers, including both Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Rand Paul, market hemp as a economic and environmental wonder plant that can be used to build everything from clothes to car doors.
The bill eventually passed with overwhelming margins in both Kentucky’s Democratic House and Republican Senate, but won’t allow Kentucky farmers to grow hemp until the federal government gives them the go-ahead. Hence the trip to D.C.
Comer is traveling with Jonathan Miller, a former Kentucky treasurer and Clinton administration official who was able to broker meetings with Obama administration officials. So far, the pair have met with Agricultural Department officials, who said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack was “open to the idea and very receptive to it,” as well as Energy Department and Environmental Protection Agency staffers, one of whom wore a hemp dress for the occasion. They also met with a White House staffer who was “somewhere above the janitor and somewhere below the chief of staff,” Comer said.
Comer also scored a 20-minute meeting with House Speaker John Boehner after meeting him at a private party during last week’s Kentucky Derby.
“He seemed very open to the idea,” Comer said.
But the duo couldn’t score a meeting with the Drug Enforcement Agency. Comer said the DEA told him they didn’t “meet with third parties,” and wouldn’t have met with the state’s Democratic governor, Steve Beshear, either. Comer chalked the decision up to the DEA protecting their turf — and their cash.
“I know there’s a lot of money appropriated for marijuana eradication,” he said.
Eight other states also allow the cultivation of commercial hemp, which lacks the THC necessary to produce the high a marijuana smoker typically gets. It is already legal to import hemp, but the size of the market isn’t clear.
There are three ways the plant could be legalized: as a stand-alone bill, which Sen. Rand Paul and Rep. Thomas Massie have introduced; as an amendment to the farm bill; or with an executive order from President Obama. Comer said he was hopeful the plant would be legal by the end of the year.
“I think so,” he said. “Why not? This is something that united people from the far left and the far right and even a lot of moderate
Kentucky Agricultural Commissioner James Comer told POLITICO both Boehner and officials from the White House and Agricultural and Energy departments seemed open to legalizing the plant, which is a close cousin of marijuana and whose growth is outlawed in the United States.
“I just think if more and more people studied this issue they would realize this is a no-brainer,” said Comer, a Republican who used a similar economy-focused message to push hemp legalization through the state’s general assembly earlier this year. “This is a way to create jobs.”
The centrist nature of the commissioner’s pitch won him establishment support in Kentucky, including endorsements from the state’s Chamber of Commerce and the Louisville Courier-Journal. Comer and other backers, including both Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Rand Paul, market hemp as a economic and environmental wonder plant that can be used to build everything from clothes to car doors.
The bill eventually passed with overwhelming margins in both Kentucky’s Democratic House and Republican Senate, but won’t allow Kentucky farmers to grow hemp until the federal government gives them the go-ahead. Hence the trip to D.C.
Comer is traveling with Jonathan Miller, a former Kentucky treasurer and Clinton administration official who was able to broker meetings with Obama administration officials. So far, the pair have met with Agricultural Department officials, who said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack was “open to the idea and very receptive to it,” as well as Energy Department and Environmental Protection Agency staffers, one of whom wore a hemp dress for the occasion. They also met with a White House staffer who was “somewhere above the janitor and somewhere below the chief of staff,” Comer said.
Comer also scored a 20-minute meeting with House Speaker John Boehner after meeting him at a private party during last week’s Kentucky Derby.
“He seemed very open to the idea,” Comer said.
But the duo couldn’t score a meeting with the Drug Enforcement Agency. Comer said the DEA told him they didn’t “meet with third parties,” and wouldn’t have met with the state’s Democratic governor, Steve Beshear, either. Comer chalked the decision up to the DEA protecting their turf — and their cash.
“I know there’s a lot of money appropriated for marijuana eradication,” he said.
Eight other states also allow the cultivation of commercial hemp, which lacks the THC necessary to produce the high a marijuana smoker typically gets. It is already legal to import hemp, but the size of the market isn’t clear.
There are three ways the plant could be legalized: as a stand-alone bill, which Sen. Rand Paul and Rep. Thomas Massie have introduced; as an amendment to the farm bill; or with an executive order from President Obama. Comer said he was hopeful the plant would be legal by the end of the year.
“I think so,” he said. “Why not? This is something that united people from the far left and the far right and even a lot of moderate
Tuesday, May 07, 2013
Kentucky hemp movement moves on DC
This year there is more energy than ever in the hemp movement, states are voting overwhelmingly to make it legal - and they are going to Washington to get their rights
respected. The more names we have on the petition to the White House the better - please add yours if you have not already - www.minawear.com/about-us/
Article below is from WDRB in Kentucky:
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The push to grow hemp in Kentucky is headed to Washington, DC. starting tomorrow. Hemp supporters will try to convince the feds to allow a new cash crop in Kentucky.
The bill to regulate hemp production in Kentucky passed after a huge fight here at the State Capitol. Now the focus shifts to the Nation's Capitol.
Paul Hornback is a lifelong farmer and a state senator who is pushing for the legalization of industrial hemp.
He's among those who will travel to Washington seeking a federal waiver to allow hemp production in Kentucky.
"Well, I hope that common sense sets in. I hope they'll realize that we sold over 400-million dollars worth of the product here in the U.S. last year. That it's a market that not only our farmers are missing out on but our retailers are missing out on somewhat.There's a lot of opportunity out there," said Hornback.
"We're meeting with the DEA. We're meeting with the U.S. Dept.of Agriculture. We're having meetings with high-ranking people in the Obama Administration," said Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer.
Comer will argue that producing hemp will produce jobs.
"This will create badly needed tax revenue. We need tax revenue. We're not going to raise taxes, so we've got to generate economic activity. Industrial hemp will do that."
"As a farmer, I'm always looking for opportunities. And I think this is an opportunity for our producers," said Hornback.
Hornback says the hemp effort has bipartisan support from Kentucky's congressional delegation. He's hoping that despite the notorious Washington gridlock, this effort will yield a harvest.
"What are the chances for anything in Washington getting done? Outside of that, I think the chances are pretty good."
"We've got the regulatory framework. We've already identified the processors. They've identified a lot of farmers that want to grow it. So, we're ready to go here in Kentucky. Hopefully we can make a good pitch," added Comer.
Comer hopes to have an answer from the Obama administration by this fall to meet his goal of having a crop in the ground by next spring.
Monday, May 06, 2013
Mitch McConnell and the DEA
Senate
Republican Leader Mitch McConnell was joined by most of Kentucky's federal
delegation, in a letter to the Drug Enforcement Administration seeking
clarification on the industrial hemp issue.
Kentucky passed a law earlier this year that would
allow industrial hemp farming -- but only if the DEA ever lifts restrictions on
the plant.
Kentucky
passed a law earlier this year that would allow industrial hemp farming -- but
only if the DEA ever lifts restrictions on the plant.
Sen.
Rand Paul and Reps. Andy Barr, Brett Guthrie, Thomas Massie, Ed Whitfield and
John Yarmuth co-signed the letter with McConnell on Thursday. They asked whether
the DEA has reconsidered its hemp regulation in light of legislative action in
Kentucky and elsewhere. Rep. Hal Rogers didn't sign.
Hemp
is similar to marijuana, but has a negligible amount of the psychoactive
compound that gives marijuana users a high. Proponents say it could be an
important crop for Kentucky.
James Comer goes to Washington
Agriculture Commissioner James Comer will lead a bipartisan delegation on a three-day trip to Washington, D.C., this week to urge the federal government to allow industrial hemp production in Kentucky. The group will meet with White House officials, representatives of federal agencies, members of Congress and others.
“My colleagues and I will make the case that industrial hemp has the potential to create revenue and jobs,” Commissioner Comer said. “Thanks to the efforts of the General Assembly, we also can say that Kentucky is ready to set up a regulatory framework that will enable us to not only revive our hemp industry but do it in the right way.”
Comer will be joined by state Sen. Paul Hornback and former state treasurer Jonathan Miller (see Miller’s take on the trip here. Comer and Miller are scheduled to meet with representatives of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and hold a series of meetings with members of Congress, including Kentucky Reps. John Yarmuth and Thomas Massie.
Sen. Hornback is scheduled to join Comer and Miller for meetings with representatives of the White House, the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul, and Reps. Ed Whitfield, Andy Barr, and Brett Guthrie.
Members of Kentucky’s congressional delegation have signed a letter asking the federal Drug Enforcement Administration for clarification of regulations regarding industrial hemp.
Hornback sponsored the legislation that creates an administrative framework, to be managed by the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, for industrial hemp production in Kentucky. The legislation calls for hemp demonstration projects by the University of Kentucky and other public universities that choose to participate. Under the bill, the Kentucky State Police are required to conduct background checks on applicants for licenses to grow industrial hemp.
The bill passed in the final hour of this year’s legislative session in March.
From Kentucky Department of Agriculture
“My colleagues and I will make the case that industrial hemp has the potential to create revenue and jobs,” Commissioner Comer said. “Thanks to the efforts of the General Assembly, we also can say that Kentucky is ready to set up a regulatory framework that will enable us to not only revive our hemp industry but do it in the right way.”
Comer will be joined by state Sen. Paul Hornback and former state treasurer Jonathan Miller (see Miller’s take on the trip here. Comer and Miller are scheduled to meet with representatives of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and hold a series of meetings with members of Congress, including Kentucky Reps. John Yarmuth and Thomas Massie.
Sen. Hornback is scheduled to join Comer and Miller for meetings with representatives of the White House, the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul, and Reps. Ed Whitfield, Andy Barr, and Brett Guthrie.
Members of Kentucky’s congressional delegation have signed a letter asking the federal Drug Enforcement Administration for clarification of regulations regarding industrial hemp.
Hornback sponsored the legislation that creates an administrative framework, to be managed by the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, for industrial hemp production in Kentucky. The legislation calls for hemp demonstration projects by the University of Kentucky and other public universities that choose to participate. Under the bill, the Kentucky State Police are required to conduct background checks on applicants for licenses to grow industrial hemp.
The bill passed in the final hour of this year’s legislative session in March.
From Kentucky Department of Agriculture
Saturday, April 06, 2013
Kentucky governor allows hemp bill
Today was the day many were waiting for - to see if Kentucky governor Steve Beshear would appove
or veto the hemp bill. He did neither. He took the coward's way out and just let it go. But at least we can't complain. Next step is federal approval, and for that we now have almost 1,000 signatures on the petition to the White House - www.minawear.com/about-us/ Feel free to add your name if you have not already. Below is the article by Joseph Gerth in the Courier-Journal:
Gov. Steve Beshear will allow legislation permitting hemp production in Kentucky to become law without his signature, and supporters of the measure say they plan to turn their attention toward Washington in hopes of knocking down federal barriers to the crop.
The bill will officially become law at the end of the day today but will have no real effect unless the federal government declassifies hemp as an illegal drug or grants Kentucky a waiver that would allow people to start growing the plant, which is native to Kentucky.
“We’re going to be figuring out a strategy about going to Washington and trying to get a waiver or trying to get them to lift the ban,” said state Rep. Paul Hornback, R-Shelbyville, the primary sponsor of the bill.
Agriculture Commissioner James Comer, a key proponent of the legislation, said he plans to talk next week with U.S. Sen. Rand Paul and U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth about how to obtain federal permission to grow the crop. “I hope farmers can start putting seeds in the ground next spring.”
Hemp fiber, oil and seed have a variety of uses, including clothing and fuel. Hornback said the market for hemp products in the United States is more than $400 million annually, which he expects to increase if cultivation resumes in the country.
Hornback and Comer argued that, as one of the first states to allow hemp farming, Kentucky could attract processors they speculate could employ hundreds. Opponents have been concerned that legal hemp would complicate efforts to spot illegal marijuana plants. The two are identical in appearance, but hemp has a fraction of marijuana’s intoxicating ingredient THC.
Hornback hopes to arrange meetings with people from the White House, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and hemp processors to demonstrate how Kentucky would license hemp farmers and conduct tests to make sure they are growing hemp and not marijuana.
Beshear said he was torn between Kentucky’s need for more farm income and concern about hemp’s similarity to marijuana.“I strongly support efforts to create additional legal cash crops for our farming 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,” he said.
Hornback said it’s understandable that Beshear wouldn’t sign the bill because State Police Commissioner Rodney Brewer has opposed the measure, saying that it’s impossible for officers to tell the difference between hemp and marijuana.
“I still share some of the same concerns that our law enforcement officials have about the impact that hemp cultivation may have on our drug eradication efforts,” Beshear said. “But the bottom line is that (Senate Bill) 50 won’t allow industrial hemp to be grown or sold unless and until the federal government takes the very big step of legalizing the crop in some way.”
“I don’t take offense to that,” Hornback said. “I understand his position.”
Comer said he’s not surprised Beshear didn’t sign the bill. “The whole time I’ve been in Frankfort, nobody has rolled out the red carpet for me on this,” he said.
Under the law, the University of Kentucky will house the Kentucky Industrial Hemp Commission, which will oversee hemp production. But the state Department of Agriculture can — at the commission’s request — test industrial hemp to ensure it’s not marijuana, process license requests, coordinate commission meetings and provide financial accounting for the commission.
The plant is still classified the same as marijuana by the federal government and producing hemp in Kentucky would require either a change in that classification or a federal waiver. Kentucky’s two senators, Yarmuth, D-3rd District, and U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-4th District, support changing the classification.
Paul and Yarmuth have promised to work to get a waiver for Kentucky that would allow hemp production to begin when the framework set out by the new law is in place.
Massie has filed a bill that would nullify the federal prohibition of hemp in states that have laws allowing it.
The measure was one of the most contentious of the 2013 legislative session, with Senate Republicans giving strong support in the early days but House Democrats blocking passage until the General Assembly’s final hours.
Democrats argued that the bill wasn’t necessary because an earlier law tied Kentucky’s hemp policy to whatever federal law is at that time.
But the bill, which Comer shepherded through the legislature, passed after a last-minute compromise.
or veto the hemp bill. He did neither. He took the coward's way out and just let it go. But at least we can't complain. Next step is federal approval, and for that we now have almost 1,000 signatures on the petition to the White House - www.minawear.com/about-us/ Feel free to add your name if you have not already. Below is the article by Joseph Gerth in the Courier-Journal:
Gov. Steve Beshear will allow legislation permitting hemp production in Kentucky to become law without his signature, and supporters of the measure say they plan to turn their attention toward Washington in hopes of knocking down federal barriers to the crop.
The bill will officially become law at the end of the day today but will have no real effect unless the federal government declassifies hemp as an illegal drug or grants Kentucky a waiver that would allow people to start growing the plant, which is native to Kentucky.
“We’re going to be figuring out a strategy about going to Washington and trying to get a waiver or trying to get them to lift the ban,” said state Rep. Paul Hornback, R-Shelbyville, the primary sponsor of the bill.
Agriculture Commissioner James Comer, a key proponent of the legislation, said he plans to talk next week with U.S. Sen. Rand Paul and U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth about how to obtain federal permission to grow the crop. “I hope farmers can start putting seeds in the ground next spring.”
Hemp fiber, oil and seed have a variety of uses, including clothing and fuel. Hornback said the market for hemp products in the United States is more than $400 million annually, which he expects to increase if cultivation resumes in the country.
Hornback and Comer argued that, as one of the first states to allow hemp farming, Kentucky could attract processors they speculate could employ hundreds. Opponents have been concerned that legal hemp would complicate efforts to spot illegal marijuana plants. The two are identical in appearance, but hemp has a fraction of marijuana’s intoxicating ingredient THC.
Hornback hopes to arrange meetings with people from the White House, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and hemp processors to demonstrate how Kentucky would license hemp farmers and conduct tests to make sure they are growing hemp and not marijuana.
Beshear said he was torn between Kentucky’s need for more farm income and concern about hemp’s similarity to marijuana.“I strongly support efforts to create additional legal cash crops for our farming 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,” he said.
Hornback said it’s understandable that Beshear wouldn’t sign the bill because State Police Commissioner Rodney Brewer has opposed the measure, saying that it’s impossible for officers to tell the difference between hemp and marijuana.
“I still share some of the same concerns that our law enforcement officials have about the impact that hemp cultivation may have on our drug eradication efforts,” Beshear said. “But the bottom line is that (Senate Bill) 50 won’t allow industrial hemp to be grown or sold unless and until the federal government takes the very big step of legalizing the crop in some way.”
“I don’t take offense to that,” Hornback said. “I understand his position.”
Comer said he’s not surprised Beshear didn’t sign the bill. “The whole time I’ve been in Frankfort, nobody has rolled out the red carpet for me on this,” he said.
Under the law, the University of Kentucky will house the Kentucky Industrial Hemp Commission, which will oversee hemp production. But the state Department of Agriculture can — at the commission’s request — test industrial hemp to ensure it’s not marijuana, process license requests, coordinate commission meetings and provide financial accounting for the commission.
The plant is still classified the same as marijuana by the federal government and producing hemp in Kentucky would require either a change in that classification or a federal waiver. Kentucky’s two senators, Yarmuth, D-3rd District, and U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-4th District, support changing the classification.
Paul and Yarmuth have promised to work to get a waiver for Kentucky that would allow hemp production to begin when the framework set out by the new law is in place.
Massie has filed a bill that would nullify the federal prohibition of hemp in states that have laws allowing it.
The measure was one of the most contentious of the 2013 legislative session, with Senate Republicans giving strong support in the early days but House Democrats blocking passage until the General Assembly’s final hours.
Democrats argued that the bill wasn’t necessary because an earlier law tied Kentucky’s hemp policy to whatever federal law is at that time.
But the bill, which Comer shepherded through the legislature, passed after a last-minute compromise.
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