State Representative Vasilinda Hopes For Hemp In Florida

Jacob Redmond

Well-Known Member
State Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda welcomed her legislative colleagues to the Capitol Monday with a reminder about one of her long-sought goals - creating a hemp industry in Florida.

Hemp is not on the agenda for the special legislative session, scheduled through June 20 to pass a state budget. But the lawmaker whose district includes the Capitol itself distributed little bottles of hemp ale from the Humboldt Brewing Co. in Paso Robles, Calif., and packets of hemp seeds from Manitoba, Canada, which can be sprinkled on cereal, salad or yogurt.

She attached a little note saying June 1-7 is "Hemp History Week." She said hemp requires half as much water as cotton, that the Declaration of Independence was written on hemp paper and that "the United States imports more hemp than any other country but Florida farmers aren't allowed to grow it."

Bills to allow controlled production of hemp - for non-marijuana purposes - never got out of committee in the past legislative session. But Rehwinkel Vasilinda said she's still hopeful about getting a conversation started in her final legislative session next year.

"Hemp is also environmentally friendly, requiring less irrigation, fewer pesticides and toxic refinery chemicals than alternative crops," she said in her note to fellow House members.

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Full Article: Rehwinkel Vasilinda hopes for hemp
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