420AM&PM
Well-Known Member
With a deadline of Sept. 30 just a week away, California farmers, environmentalists and business leaders look forward to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's decision on whether to sign AB 1147, The California Industrial Hemp Farming Act. This landmark, bipartisan legislation establishes guidelines for farming industrial hemp as an agricultural crop, which is used in a wide variety of everyday consumer products, including food, body care, clothing, paper and auto parts. Many hemp products are manufactured in California and other states using hemp grown in Canada, Europe and China.
Demand for hemp products has been growing rapidly in recent years. The U.S. hemp product market now exceeds $270 million in estimated annual sales. The new law will give farmers the ability to legally supply California manufacturers that currently import hemp seed, oil and fiber and clarifies that the cultivation of industrial hemp is legal on the condition it contains no more than three tenths of 1 percent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The new law would not legalize marijuana cultivation.
AB 1147 was introduced in February 2005 by Democratic Assemblyman Mark Leno. This year, the bill was amended and Republican Assemblyman Chuck Devore joined as a co-author. The California Industrial Hemp Farming Act passed its final vote in the Senate on Aug. 16 by a vote of 26-13 and passed its final vote in the Assembly on Aug. 21 by a vote of 44-29.
The new law would challenge the federal government's misguided ban on non-psychoactive hemp farming and is likely to trigger a legal battle between California farmers and the federal government. It has the support of numerous organizations including: California Certified Organic Farmers, California State Grange, Rainforest Action Network, Organic Consumers Association, Sierra Club, Hemp Industries Association and well known businesses that make or sell hemp products such as Patagonia, Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps, Alterna Professional Haircare, Whole Foods Market and Nutiva Foods.
The last commercial hemp crops in the United States were grown in Central Wisconsin in 1957. The primary reason industrial hemp has not been grown in the United States since then is because of its misclassification as a Schedule 1 drug in the Controlled Substances (CSA) Act of 1970. However, the CSA exempts hemp from control which is why it can be imported.
The industrial hemp plant's stalk is long and strong, has few branches, has been bred for maximum production of fiber and/or seed, and grows up to 16 feet in height. Hemp is planted in densities of 100 to 300 plants per square yard. More facts about hemp can be found at Vote Hemp - Industrial Hemp Information and Advocacy.
California must assert its right to regulate industrial hemp as permitted by the U.S. Constitution and the 2004 9th U.S. Circuit Court decision in HIA v. DEA. Seven states (Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Montana, North Dakota and West Virginia) have now changed their laws to give farmers an affirmative right to grow industrial hemp commercially or for research purposes; however unlike under California's AB 1147, all require a license to grow the crop from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Only Hawaii grew hemp in recent years, but the research program ended when the DEA refused to renew the license.
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Vote Hemp is a non-profit organization dedicated to the acceptance of and free market for industrial hemp and to changes in current law to allow U.S. farmers to grow low THC industrial hemp. More information about hemp legislation and the crop's many uses can be found at Vote Hemp - Industrial Hemp Information and Advocacy. BETA SP and DVD Video news release featuring footage of hemp farming in other countries is available upon request by contacting Adam Eidinger at 202-744-2671.
Newshawk: 420AM&PM - 420 Magazine
Source: US Newswire (Washington, DC)
Pubdate: September 22, 2006
Copyright: © 2006 U.S. Newswire
Contact: info@usnewswire.com
Website: U.S. Newswire - A PR Newswire Company
Demand for hemp products has been growing rapidly in recent years. The U.S. hemp product market now exceeds $270 million in estimated annual sales. The new law will give farmers the ability to legally supply California manufacturers that currently import hemp seed, oil and fiber and clarifies that the cultivation of industrial hemp is legal on the condition it contains no more than three tenths of 1 percent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The new law would not legalize marijuana cultivation.
AB 1147 was introduced in February 2005 by Democratic Assemblyman Mark Leno. This year, the bill was amended and Republican Assemblyman Chuck Devore joined as a co-author. The California Industrial Hemp Farming Act passed its final vote in the Senate on Aug. 16 by a vote of 26-13 and passed its final vote in the Assembly on Aug. 21 by a vote of 44-29.
The new law would challenge the federal government's misguided ban on non-psychoactive hemp farming and is likely to trigger a legal battle between California farmers and the federal government. It has the support of numerous organizations including: California Certified Organic Farmers, California State Grange, Rainforest Action Network, Organic Consumers Association, Sierra Club, Hemp Industries Association and well known businesses that make or sell hemp products such as Patagonia, Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps, Alterna Professional Haircare, Whole Foods Market and Nutiva Foods.
The last commercial hemp crops in the United States were grown in Central Wisconsin in 1957. The primary reason industrial hemp has not been grown in the United States since then is because of its misclassification as a Schedule 1 drug in the Controlled Substances (CSA) Act of 1970. However, the CSA exempts hemp from control which is why it can be imported.
The industrial hemp plant's stalk is long and strong, has few branches, has been bred for maximum production of fiber and/or seed, and grows up to 16 feet in height. Hemp is planted in densities of 100 to 300 plants per square yard. More facts about hemp can be found at Vote Hemp - Industrial Hemp Information and Advocacy.
California must assert its right to regulate industrial hemp as permitted by the U.S. Constitution and the 2004 9th U.S. Circuit Court decision in HIA v. DEA. Seven states (Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Montana, North Dakota and West Virginia) have now changed their laws to give farmers an affirmative right to grow industrial hemp commercially or for research purposes; however unlike under California's AB 1147, all require a license to grow the crop from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Only Hawaii grew hemp in recent years, but the research program ended when the DEA refused to renew the license.
-----
Vote Hemp is a non-profit organization dedicated to the acceptance of and free market for industrial hemp and to changes in current law to allow U.S. farmers to grow low THC industrial hemp. More information about hemp legislation and the crop's many uses can be found at Vote Hemp - Industrial Hemp Information and Advocacy. BETA SP and DVD Video news release featuring footage of hemp farming in other countries is available upon request by contacting Adam Eidinger at 202-744-2671.
Newshawk: 420AM&PM - 420 Magazine
Source: US Newswire (Washington, DC)
Pubdate: September 22, 2006
Copyright: © 2006 U.S. Newswire
Contact: info@usnewswire.com
Website: U.S. Newswire - A PR Newswire Company
