This Could Be The Time To Pass Industrial Hemp Law

[Ganjarden]

Will U.S. farmers one day be able to grow industrial hemp?

North Dakota and Montana are two of nine states that have approved legislation allowing industrial hemp farming or its research. Minnesota is among 28 states that have introduced legislation at some point to allow farmers to grow hemp.

In Minnesota, researchers are looking at developing a totally THC-free hemp plant. University of Minnesota researchers have identified the genes that produce THC, the psycho-active substance in marijuana, a distant cousin of hemp.

Even though industrial hemp cannot get anyone high, these researchers are studying the genes to help produce a more acceptable hemp plant for producers to grow. It could also lead to new and better drugs for pain, nausea and other conditions.

North Dakota was the first state to ever pass industrial hemp farming legislation, the first state to regulate industrial farming, the first state to issue licenses, and the first state to approve growing industrial hemp varieties at its land grant university for eventual use by state farmers.


Farmers in the Upper Plains are in a unique position to grow industrial hemp as it is a cooler season type crop and it has been grown successfully right across the northern border in Canada.

They have seen the crop first-hand, and would like to be able to add it to their rotations. It produces a high quality oilseed, and with its height and mass, could one day be an ideal candidate for cellulosic ethanol.

There is currently a proposed bill in the U.S. House called the the Hemp Farming Act of 2009. If passed, that bill would allow U.S. farmers to grow the crop.

Currently, hemp can be imported and the raw product can be used in all sorts of goods including clothing, food with high Omega 3s, 6s and 9s, auto paneling, building components, and more. Like sunflowers and canola, industrial hemp yields a highly desirable top oil.

This could be the time to pass industrial hemp farming legislation. The current administration has sent out a directive asking federal agencies to respect state rights.

The actual directive from President Obama stated, “Executive departments and agencies should be mindful that in our federal system, the citizens of the several states have distinctive circumstances and values, and that in many instances it is appropriate for them to apply to themselves rules and principles that reflect these circumstances and values. As Justice Brandeis explained more than 70 years ago, ‘it is one of the happy incidents of the federal system that a single courageous state may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country'.”

Applied to industrial hemp farming, that means that states ought to be able to pass legislation regarding hemp farming.

If a state such as North Dakota wants industrial hemp farming for its states' producers and is willing to regulate it, why should the federal Drug Enforcement Agency care?

North Dakota has been fighting for industrial hemp farming for two decades. Past governors and past Legislatures have all supported it. It is well understood that there is so tiny of a drug connection to the crop that it is miniscule at best.

Industrial hemp is simply a viable, productive, profitable rotational crop that can help break up the disease cycle. There are willing businesses in the U.S. who will pay well for the oilseed.

Potentially, with the federal push for energy independence, it could be an ideal biomass for cellulosic ethanol.

Clothing manufacturers could also be interested in the hemp fiber. It lasts longer and is tougher than cotton. That could be another industry that could be brought back to America if farmers could grow the crop right here in the U.S.

Presumably, one of the main reasons it has not been part of the discussions in other states surrounding North Dakota is that there is little point in passing legislation when the feds don't allow it.

With grain prices taking a dive this year, agriculture could certainly use a boost in terms of another good rotational crop. This could be the ideal time to pass this bill.

The buyers are there. Every other industrial nation grows it and exports it. Why not the U.S.?


News Hawk- Ganjarden http://www.420Magazine.com
Source: The Prairie Star
Contact: The Prairie Star
Copyright: 2009 The Prairie Star
Website: This Could Be The Time To Pass Industrial Hemp Law