Pubdate: Sat, 20 Apr 2002
Source: U.S. News and World Report (US)
Copyright: 2002 U.S. News & World Report
Contact:  http://www.usnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/464
Author: Roger Adkins
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hemp.htm (Hemp)

INDUSTRIAL HEMP CONCERNS LINGERING

Lizards and snakes belong to the same family, but they are not the same. 
The same can be said of the differences between industrial hemp and 
marijuana, said Sen. Karen Facemyer, R-Jackson, when she introduced Senate 
Bill 447.

Her approach worked. West Virginia soon will be ready to begin production 
of industrial hemp for commercial use, despite hesitant law enforcement 
officials.

The bill, recently signed by Gov. Bob Wise, states farmers can sell 
industrial hemp after obtaining a license from the state agricultural 
commissioner. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the West 
Virginia State Police have not made their stances clear on the use of 
industrial hemp.

According to the bill, the Legislature determined the development and use 
of industrial hemp is in the best interest of the economy.

The bill does not legalize marijuana, Facemyer said.

Delegate J.D. Beane, D-Wood, who voted in favor of the bill, said Facemyer 
was instrumental in clarifying the difference between industrial hemp and 
marijuana.

"There's been a lot of misunderstanding about it, and I think she was able 
to gather information about it from national publications," Beane said.

Facemyer said the idea came from an agriculture conference she attended six 
years ago in Hawaii. State officials were searching for a replacement for 
their waning pineapple industry. They chose industrial hemp, she said.

According to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws 
(NORML), hemp is a distinct variety of Cannabis Sativa L. Studies show it 
contains less than 1 percent of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary 
psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.

According to NORML's Web site, hemp produces a much higher yield per acre 
than common substitutes, such as cotton, and requires fewer pesticides.

Hemp has an average growing cycle of 100 days, and leaves the soil 
virtually weed-free for the next planting.

Hemp is harvested for commercial use in more than 30 nations, including 
Canada, Japan and the European Union. It grows wild across much of America, 
NORML officials said. It is used in products ranging from rope to men and 
women's lingerie.

National retailers and manufacturers import roughly 1.9 million pounds of 
hemp fiber, 450,000 pounds of hemp seeds and 331 pounds of hemp seed oil 
from Canada and other nations each year, statistics show. Facemyer said the 
U.S. imports more than $300,000 worth of hemp for industrial use annually.

"It's not only been used in rope and paper," she said. "Toyota and Mercury 
have been using it for dashboards instead of Fiberglass and in the seat 
belts because it's stronger."

Delegate John Ellem, R-Wood, said Facemyer's bill was a "sad waste of time."

"First of all, no matter how much they want to say it's related, but not 
marijuana, the underlying ingredient is THC," he said. "We didn't need to 
waste time on this. My whole bottom line is we have better things to do 
than regulating and allowing industrial hemp to be grown."

Ellem was one of the few lawmakers who voted against the bill. He called 
the bill "unworkable," citing the "loops" a grower would have to go through 
to get a license.

"I'm offended something like this could get through to Legislature, but my 
efforts in fighting meth died in the committee," Ellem said. "I think it 
shows our priorities are off. They're calling it a economic bill, but I 
think it's a poor excuse for economic development. I guess you can say I'm 
blasting the bill, but I don't care."

Facemyer said she considers the bill one of the biggest economic 
development projects during the 2002 session. She said arguing over bills 
that eventually died was a waste of time.

Ellem said industrial hemp is too close to marijuana for comfort. 
Parkersburg police Chief Bob Newell said the legalization of industrial 
hemp shouldn't increase marijuana abuse, especially since a license must be 
obtained to grow it.

Facemyer said industrial hemp grown in the vicinity of marijuana causes 
cross-pollination, which significantly reduces the amount of THC in the 
nearby pot patches.

Randy Coleman, communications director for the state Department of Military 
Affairs and Public Safety in Charleston, said the state police is 
researching the situation.

"We're trying as quickly as we can to get educated on the matter," he said. 
"All I can tell you is we are going to enforce the law. The state police is 
not going to make a value judgment on the quality of the law." Coleman said 
there was concern when the bill was passed regarding marijuana searches in 
the state.

"The concern law enforcement has is they do fly overs. They pinpoint crops 
and things, and they're just wondering how you're going to know who's got a 
permit," he said.

Equipment used to search for marijuana, which was tested in West Virginia, 
can tell the difference between industrial hemp and pot, Facemyer said.

"If it's marijuana, it has all its leaves," she said. "Industrial hemp is 
stripped of its leaves to a certain point."

Facemyer said she hoped ambiguities in federal laws would be resolved by 
the time the state is ready to begin commercial production. "I think 
there's still resistance there, but my understanding is it's coming closer 
all the time," she said. "We need to look at it. I want to make sure 
everything is done legally. DEA, please come in here and tell us what we 
can do to follow your regulations so we can make this a crop the farmers 
can live on."

Environmentalists support the use of hemp over clear-cutting trees for 
paper products. Staples office supply stores, in an effort to find 
environmental alternatives for wasteful paper production, recently 
announced they will begin carrying hemp/flax paper in more than 1,000 
stores by Earth Day this year.
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager