Kentucy votes to make hemp legal

News on hemp is making bigger and bigger waves, this in from USA Today:

 

Kentucky Senate votes to legalize hemp

Gregory A. Hall, The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal12:34p.m. EST February 15, 2013

A century ago, Kentucky produced the most hemp in the country.

Hemp used to be used primarily for rope making and weaving sailcloth, but entrepreneurs today are finding new ways to use the fast-growing plant. In 2010, in Asheville, N.C., hemp blocks hardened with lime insulated a house. Its builder said the hemp insulation is less toxic than other materials, durable and mildew-resistant.(Photo: John C. Fletcher for USA TODAY)

Story Highlights

• Bill faces stiff opposition in the Kentucky House
• Governor also is worried about police ability to differentiate between it, marijuana
• Hemp has less than 0.3% THC vs. marijuana's 3% to 15%

FRANKFORT, Ky. — An effort to allow Kentucky farmers to grow hemp for a variety of products passed the state Senate on Thursday — and took a small step toward federal acceptance as well.
But it still faces steep odds, including skepticism from the governor and Kentucky State Police and the distinct possibility of being gutted in the state House.
STORY: Ky. lawmakers take opposite sides on hemp
BLOG: Hemp on cutting edge of green building
Backers of Kentucky Senate Bill 50 say Thursday's 31-6 vote could make Kentucky among the first in the nation to legalize the crop, potentially creating thousands of hemp-related jobs growing and processing the plant's fiber and seeds.
But Gov. Steve Beshear said he has doubts about legalizing the far weaker relative of marijuana as an industrial crop, citing state police concerns about complicating marijuana enforcement efforts. Even if the state legalizes hemp, the federal government would have to distinguish it from marijuana before cultivation could be allowed.
The federal government took a step in that direction Thursday when Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul, both Kentucky Republicans, joined Oregon's Democratic senators in sponsoring a bill that would remove hemp from the federal controlled substance list and define it as a nondrug — as long as it contains less than 0.3% tetrahydrocannabinol, better known as THC and the active ingredient in marijuana.
Marijuana has 3% to 15% THC.
"I am extremely proud of the Kentucky state Senate for its commitment to job creation in Kentucky," said Agriculture Commissioner James Comer, who has led the campaign to pass the bill along with Paul.
Kentucky would become the ninth state to remove barriers to the production of industrial hemp, according to Vote Hemp, a national group seeking to legalize the crop. Seven states — Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Vermont and Washington — have introduced bills have introduced bills so far this year.
"Today's bipartisan vote is the first step toward more opportunities for our farmers and jobs for Kentuckians," Comer said.
The bill now goes to the state House, where Speaker Greg Stumbo said it will have a "tougher time."
House may rewrite
Stumbo has suggested the bill may be overhauled to remove the rules for growing hemp and replace them with an economic impact study. Stumbo, a Democrat from Prestonsburg, Ky., and former state attorney general, has said he doesn't believe hemp has a market.
"It's not that we are saying, 'No,' " he said. "We are saying that the evidence doesn't show enough of a market to override the concerns that the law enforcement community has."
Beshear voiced similar concerns before the Senate vote.

^“Give us the opportunity to see how this works.^”

— state Rep. Paul Hornback, the bill's sponsor who also is a farmer

"We really don't know anything about whether there's going to be a market for it yet," Beshear said. "The other concern is law enforcement. ... We've got a big drug problem in Kentucky, and I just want to make sure we don't do anything that will make that problem any worse."
The Kentucky State Police, the most vocal critic of the bill, didn't comment on the vote. The state police argues that allowing hemp production would hamper efforts to eradicate marijuana because the plants look very similar.
"Our position's very well known," Sgt. Rick Saint Blancard said, adding that the agency will enforce whatever laws are passed.
McConnell and Paul's U.S. Senate legislation is similar to a bill filed in the U.S. House last week by Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who represents much of northern Kentucky.
The House bill has 28 Democratic and Republican co-sponsors.
The debate Thursday on the Kentucky Senate floor mirrored previous arguments, both in Kentucky and across the nation.
"This issue in the big scheme of things is a nonissue," said state Sen. Chris Girdler, a Republican from Somerset, Ky., who questioned its economic benefit in voting against the bill.
Hemp used to be used for making ropes and sailcloth until the federal government began restricting production after the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act. After World War II, its cultivation was phased out across the country. From the end of the Civil War until 1912, almost all hemp in the U.S. was grown in Kentucky, according to Oregon State University research.
State Sen. David Givens, a Republican from Greensburg, Ky., said he would prefer to approve a small, controlled growing study while the economics of hemp could be analyzed.
Seeking a chance
"Give us the opportunity to see how this works," said bill sponsor Republican Paul Hornback of Shelbyville, Ky., who also is a farmer. He said any study would be limited because growing the product isn't allowed in the United States.
But he said he's already heard from two companies interested in Kentucky taking action, including a Canadian hemp processor that would relocate to Kentucky and another that interested in using hemp fiber for concrete.
STORY: More states want federal OK to grow hemp
"If you're not first, you're probably last," Hornback said. China is the world's largest producer of hemp.
SB 50 would require growers to be licensed annually and undergo an Agriculture Department background check.
Each licensee would be required to plant a minimum of 10 acres, a provision meant to keep licenses from people who are not serious about the effort.
Growers would have to keep sales contracts for three years and provide names of hemp buyers to the department.

Murray Ledger & Times article on hemp in Kentucky

John Wright of the Murray Ledger & Times writes about the hemp debate in his part of Kentucky, where the senior senator, Mitch McConnell, has just endorsed hemp, causing hundreds of news reports nationswide, with the Huffington Post and Jim Hightower jumping in.



Industrial hemp is not marijuana!”
That is the argument supporters backing legislation to return the hemp crop to Kentucky fields are pushing as a bill enters discussion with the Kentucky state Senate Agriculture Committee this week in Frankfort. State Sen. Mike Hornback of Shelbyville, in fact, has pledged to bring the issue up for vote on the Senate floor before the current session of the Kentucky General Assembly is over.

Of course, even if both the Senate and state House approve the bill and Gov. Steve Beshear signs the bill into law, the federal government would still have to lift its ban on production of the crop that has been in effect since the 1930s when the word “hemp” became associated with terms like “Reefer Madness” and “Devil’s weed.”
“Right now, I’m trying to become more educated on the subject just like everyone else,” said 1st District state Sen. Stan Humphries of Cadiz, a Republican, who said he has heard both positives and negatives on the subject, but admits that having a state official - Commissioner of Agriculture James Comer - become one of the bill’s strongest advocates in the past year holds weight.
“He brings quite a bit of credibility to it for certain, especially with how he has traveled as far as he has to find out more about this. This is also at a time where I’m sure he sees how distressed communities in our state are and how this could create jobs. We just have to weigh all of the options,” Humphries said.
Before its association as a sinful product, hemp produced numerous useful materials, such as rope and clothing. With the U.S. being the only nation worldwide to ban the cultivation of hemp, some modern-day uses of the plant overseas are being discovered that include paper, plastics, even food and automobile parts.
“I’ve spoken to 12-15 people about it, and I haven’t heard anyone say they’re against this, should the federal government bring it back,” said 5th District state Rep. Kenny Imes of Murray, who said he has either received yes or wait-and-see answers from people to whom he has spoken in his home county of Calloway. “When you look at the potential products that can come from this plant it is easy to see why people would be for it.
“From what I understand, you also wouldn’t need a whole lot of special equipment to plant it or harvest it, so it makes a lot of sense economically. I think this is something - where if we’re going to do it - we need to go ahead and get something on the books so that if the federal government does lift the ban, Kentucky can be the first state producing again. That could mean all kinds of job opportunities.”
Imes also acknowledged concerns of law enforcement of being able to tell marijuana plants from the industrial version. The Murray Republican said he feels that advances in high-technology, namely GPS tracking that is common in many fields these days, could be utilized to help make that easier to distinguish.
Studies also have shown that the industrial form, when cross-pollinated with the marijuana plant, is dominant and would eventually absorb its cousin cannabis.

Kentucky Courier article on hemp

Effort to legalize hemp gains new life in Kentucky

Gregory A. Hall, The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal10:01p.m. EST January 22, 2013

Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer talks about a bill to legalize hemp on January 15.(Photo: Scott Utterback, The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal)

Story Highlights

• Proponents say legalization could create thousands of jobs in the state
• Opposition from Kentucky State Police has helped killed past proposals
• Legal hemp production in the U.S. was once centered in Kentucky

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- With support from some of the state's top politicians and claims that it would create thousands of jobs, an effort to legalize industrial hemp — the less-potent cousin of marijuana — may have its best chance of passing the Kentucky General Assembly.
Opposition from the Kentucky State Police helped kill earlier efforts to legalize hemp, which can be processed into fiber for clothing or provide an oil used in skin- and hair-care products. Once legal, hemp production in the United States was centered in Kentucky. Production fell nationally after the mid-1800s, as cotton surged.
State police still oppose legalizing hemp, arguing in part that because the plants look virtually the same as marijuana it could impede drug enforcement efforts.
But the proposal to legalize hemp has gained momentum from the alliance of Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer, state Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Paul Hornback, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul and the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce.
"This is something that you don't have to borrow any money (for) that will have an immediate impact of thousands of jobs," Comer said, based on an assumption that processors and manufacturers would locate in Kentucky if it is one of the first states to approve it. "We're ahead at something that relates to economic development for once, so let's pursue it."
Comer and Paul say the state police concerns are unfounded because growers of industrial hemp would be licensed and global-positioning system devices would identify legal crops and reveal others as illegal.
Comer's Senate Bill 50, sponsored by Hornback, a Republican from Shelbyville, was filed earlier this month just before the legislature adjourned until February.
The bill would require growers to be licensed annually and have their backgrounds checked by the Agriculture Department. Each licensee would be required to plant a minimum of 10 acres to eliminate people who aren't serious from getting licenses.
Growers would have to keep sales contracts for three years and provide names of hemp buyers to the department.
Hemp seeds produce plants with less than 1 percent THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, which has between 3 percent and 15 percent THC.
Comer said he believes there are 22 votes in the 38-member Senate in favor of the bill. But if it isn't assigned to Hornback's committee by Senate President Robert Stivers and other Senate leaders, it may never get to the floor.
"I'm afraid I see problems in the Senate," Comer said.
Stivers, a Republican from Manchester, said some members are uncomfortable with the bill.
If the measure passes the Senate, it likely will face an even tougher battle in the House, where Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom McKee, a Democrat from Cynthiana, has blocked similar bills from getting a vote in the past
McKee has said the state police concerns resonate with him.
"I think we have some questions to answer, but I certainly don't want to close any opportunity for viable agriculture," McKee said earlier this month.
Gov. Steve Beshear said on a Lexington radio call-in show recently that his "only hesitation" is law enforcement concerns.
Even if an industrial hemp bill passed in Kentucky, it would still need federal approval. Federal drug policy effectively bans growing it, although other countries, such as Canada, allow it.
Paul, a Bowling Green Republican, has supported federal legislation to enable hemp production by classifying it separately from marijuana. Paul and Comer appeared together at the Kentucky State Fair last year to talk about their support for industrial hemp.
If legalized, Comer said he doesn't see corn and soybean growers in Western Kentucky switching to industrial hemp, but he said it would be a profitable alternative for growers in hillier areas whose land is now used for grazing and pasture.