Lawmakers Give Broad Support To Bill That Would Allow Growing Hemp

[Herb Fellow]

MONTPELIER – The calls came into the Statehouse at a furious pace Thursday morning, inundating the Senate Judiciary pane's voicemail with ardent support for a bill stuck in committee. The groundswell wasn't about the state budget, transportation, economic stimulus or other big-ticket must-haves this legislative session. Vermonters, it seems, want their hemp.

"I had 73 calls this morning," said Sen. Dick Sears, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Sears, a Bennington Democrat, didn't have occasion to respond to the callers, but he did hear their message. And with some reluctance, Sears allowed the bill to pass out of committee and onto the Senate floor, where legislation legalizing industrial hemp cultivation in Vermont won nearly unanimous support. "Given the broad support, I thought we should move forward with the bill," Sears said.

The House is expected to offer similarly lopsided support for the measure Friday morning. The bill then passes to the desk of Gov. James Douglas. Douglas' spokesman said Thursday evening that the governor still has misgivings about the legislation.

The bill would have no immediate effect in Vermont. Federal laws banning hemp production supercede any state legislation, meaning would-be hemp farmers will have to wait for a shift in federal policy before moving forward with crops that some see as a potential boon for Vermont farmers.

Amy Shollenberger, executive director of Rural Vermont, said the bill nonetheless positions Vermont farmers to capitalize on hemp growing when the feds do relent. "So many people understand there's no real downside to hemp," Shollenberger said after the Senate vote Thursday. "It's good for farmers, good for the soil and good for the Vermont economy."

Hemp, legally grown in every industrialized country except the United States, has numerous industrial applications. The seeds are processed into food and beauty products; the long stalks contain fiber and cellulose that can be made into textiles, building materials and fuel.

But the plant, a strain of cannabis sativa, shares its species with marijuana. Though hemp has barely detectable levels of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, the Drug Enforcement Agency, which wields federal jurisdiction over hemp cultivation, draws no legal distinction between the two plants.

Law enforcement officials in Vermont worry hemp could be used as a cover to grow marijuana. "I spent a lot of time talking with a number of individuals from law enforcement … who are concerned about the bill," Sears said. "I share many of their concerns."

Sen. Hull Maynard, a Rutland Republican, said the bill contains safeguards that prevent criminally minded individuals from taking advantage of the visual similarities between marijuana and hemp (though law enforcement authorities in Canada, where hemp is legal, told lawmakers earlier this year that distinguishing the plants is no difficult task).

Growers would have to be licensed, and undergo a voluntary criminal background check before getting permission from the Agency of Agriculture to sow hemp. "If we follow all of these rules, we won't have any farmers that are criminals down the road," Maynard said.

The issue of hemp legalization has drifted in and out of the Statehouse since 1998. Shollenberger said it's taken a decade to educate lawmakers and the general public about the differences between hemp and marijuana. "There really is a difference, and it's possible to detect the difference," Shollenberger said. "Every other industrialized nation in the world has managed to figure this out, and I don't see any reason we can't too."

Jason Gibbs, spokesman for Douglas, called the bill an "insignificant" piece of legislation that is a low priority for the governor. "We are much more focused on the economic growth initiative and other legislation, like budget, capital bill, transportation bill – things that are going to have a meaningful impact on the lives of Vermonters," Gibbs said.

The governor will look at the specifics of the legislation when and if it arrives at his desk, according to Gibbs, at which point he'll decide whether or not to sign it into law. "The governor has some concerns about the legislation," Gibbs said.

Shollenberger said Rural Vermont will now look to Vermont's Congressional Delegation to enact changes in the federal laws.

Source: The Times Argus
Copyright: 2008, The Times Argus
Contact: Peter Hirschfeld, Vermont Press Bureau
Website: Lawmakers give broad support to bill that would allow growing hemp: Times Argus Online

[Frog]

With legalization, passage of :
1 . H.R.5842 Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act (Introduced in House)
and
2 . H.R.5843 Act to Remove Federal Penalties for the Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults (Introduced in House)
Search Results - THOMAS (Library of Congress)

Hemp would once again be an exportable crop for American farmers.

contact your congress person