Truth Seeker
New Member
Although Colorado voters legalized hemp farming with last fall's passage of Amendment 64, it remains illegal federally.
But a grassroots activist group is hoping to change that. Organizers with Fort Collins-based Hemp For America spent last week knocking on doors in Telluride, Ridgway, Nucla, Naturita, Ophir, Rico, Dolores, Mancos and other small communities in southwestern Colorado. The volunteers are traveling to key congressional districts throughout the nation, drumming up support for the Industrial Farming Act of 2013. U.S. Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colorado) is a sponsor of the bill.
Hemp is a useful and versatile plant whose fiber, oil and seeds can be used to make everything from fabrics to lotions to food. But because the federal controlled substances act lumps industrial hemp in together with the definition of marijuana, (they are varieties of the same plant) growing it remains illegal. The farming act would exclude industrial hemp from the definition of marijuana.
Director of Hemp For America Fred Kirsch said his team hopes to inspire citizens to write letters to Sens. Mark Udall and Michael Bennet expressing their support for the bill. The campaign has generated more than 400 letters to each senator and the group expects to have more than 2,000 by the end of July.
"Hemp is not pot," Kirsch said. "It's OK to grow hemp. One of the most exciting things is it does have bi-partisan support. The Republicans are taking the lead."
On the state level, Colorado House District 58 Rep. Don Coram (R-Montrose) sponsored a bill this session that calls for forming a program and committee to regulate industrial hemp, overseen by the state department of agriculture. The bill lays out plans for the committee to come up with standards for growing hemp and licensing growers. SB 13-241 passed and was signed into law by Gov. John Hickenlooper in May.
Coram is a supporter of hemp farming and says he hasn't heard a single negative comment about it in his district. In the agricultural Western Slope, the crop could be incorporated into existing farming operations.
"We are the largest user of hemp in the world, but we import it all," he said. "So I think it's just another choice for a crop for the agricultural community."
Coram doesn't expect the hemp industry to provide new jobs from farming at first, but there could be economic growth from the ensuing processing plants and consumers who buy the products, he said.
"It's a great building block," Coram said. "There's a multitude of uses. The growing might not create jobs, but the secondary results have potential."
In May, a farmer in Springfield planted hemp on 60 acres. It is one of Colorado's first industrial hemp crops in nearly 60 years. But without the blessing of the federal government, farmers won't be able to get federal subsidies or crop insurance.
"There's certainly a move by Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul and there is federal legislation they are working on to eliminate (the federal prohibition)," Coram said.
Canvasser and organizer with Hemp For America Darcy Donnellan said she was impressed with local citizens' knowledge about the issue, especially in the West End towns they visited.
"I was super impressed with how informed people were," she said. "People were really open-minded too."
News Hawk- Truth Seeker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: telluridenews.com
Author: Heather Sackett
Contact: Telluride Daily Planet > Our Newspaper > Contact Us
Website: Telluride Daily Planet > News
But a grassroots activist group is hoping to change that. Organizers with Fort Collins-based Hemp For America spent last week knocking on doors in Telluride, Ridgway, Nucla, Naturita, Ophir, Rico, Dolores, Mancos and other small communities in southwestern Colorado. The volunteers are traveling to key congressional districts throughout the nation, drumming up support for the Industrial Farming Act of 2013. U.S. Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colorado) is a sponsor of the bill.
Hemp is a useful and versatile plant whose fiber, oil and seeds can be used to make everything from fabrics to lotions to food. But because the federal controlled substances act lumps industrial hemp in together with the definition of marijuana, (they are varieties of the same plant) growing it remains illegal. The farming act would exclude industrial hemp from the definition of marijuana.
Director of Hemp For America Fred Kirsch said his team hopes to inspire citizens to write letters to Sens. Mark Udall and Michael Bennet expressing their support for the bill. The campaign has generated more than 400 letters to each senator and the group expects to have more than 2,000 by the end of July.
"Hemp is not pot," Kirsch said. "It's OK to grow hemp. One of the most exciting things is it does have bi-partisan support. The Republicans are taking the lead."
On the state level, Colorado House District 58 Rep. Don Coram (R-Montrose) sponsored a bill this session that calls for forming a program and committee to regulate industrial hemp, overseen by the state department of agriculture. The bill lays out plans for the committee to come up with standards for growing hemp and licensing growers. SB 13-241 passed and was signed into law by Gov. John Hickenlooper in May.
Coram is a supporter of hemp farming and says he hasn't heard a single negative comment about it in his district. In the agricultural Western Slope, the crop could be incorporated into existing farming operations.
"We are the largest user of hemp in the world, but we import it all," he said. "So I think it's just another choice for a crop for the agricultural community."
Coram doesn't expect the hemp industry to provide new jobs from farming at first, but there could be economic growth from the ensuing processing plants and consumers who buy the products, he said.
"It's a great building block," Coram said. "There's a multitude of uses. The growing might not create jobs, but the secondary results have potential."
In May, a farmer in Springfield planted hemp on 60 acres. It is one of Colorado's first industrial hemp crops in nearly 60 years. But without the blessing of the federal government, farmers won't be able to get federal subsidies or crop insurance.
"There's certainly a move by Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul and there is federal legislation they are working on to eliminate (the federal prohibition)," Coram said.
Canvasser and organizer with Hemp For America Darcy Donnellan said she was impressed with local citizens' knowledge about the issue, especially in the West End towns they visited.
"I was super impressed with how informed people were," she said. "People were really open-minded too."
News Hawk- Truth Seeker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: telluridenews.com
Author: Heather Sackett
Contact: Telluride Daily Planet > Our Newspaper > Contact Us
Website: Telluride Daily Planet > News
