Pubdate: Tue, 10 Apr 2001
Source: Daily Illini, The (IL Edu)
Copyright: 2001 Illini Media Co
Contact:  http://www.dailyillini.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1292
Author: Megan Marz
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hemp.htm (Hemp)

UNIVERSITY COULD GROW, STUDY HEMP SOON

The University could soon grow industrial hemp along with corn and soybeans.

The Illinois House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday 72-43 to allow 
the University to study industrial   hemp. The Illinois Senate, which 
passed a similar bill in February, will vote on the current bill in the 
next few   weeks.

Illinois Gov. George Ryan vetoed the previous bill, but has not issued a 
comment on how he will respond to the   new legislation.

"We'll have to wait until the bill gets to the governor's desk," said Ray 
Serati, deputy press secretary for the   governor.

Donald Briskin, a University professor of plant physiology who would likely 
head the hemp study, said he is   unsure about how Ryan will respond to the 
bill.

"There still is opposition," Briskin said. "It's hard to say whether (the 
bill) will address what he's concerned about."

He said the study would measure the extent to which new European varieties 
of hemp can grow here and   would answer questions about the crop's 
performance in a Midwestern environment.    "It (would be) a feasibility 
study <#151; an assessment of how useful hemp is," Briskin said.

He said uses of industrial hemp would include manufacture of fibers, 
textiles, paper and new kinds of plastic.

Industrial hemp has a lower quantity of the psychoactive chemical 
tetrahydrocannabinol than regular hemp.

THC, the active chemical in marijuana, must be completely absent from the 
industrial hemp that would be in   the study, according to the bill.

State representatives Tom Berns, R-Urbana, and Rick Winkel, R-Champaign, 
voted for passage of the bill.   Sen. Stanley Weaver, R-Champaign, said he 
would support the bill when it reaches the Senate.

Briskin said he thinks concerns connected with the bill about increased 
marijuana growth are unfounded.

"The reality is that the plants would be regulated," Briskin said. "You 
have to be licensed to grow it. It's not like   growing corn or soybeans. 
It's very different."

He also said the study could benefit the University.

"The U of I could end up being a center (for industrial hemp research)," 
Briskin said. "It would provide leadership, mainly because it would be the 
first big ag university (to study hemp)."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager