Pubdate: Fri, 24 Aug 2012 Source: Courier-Journal, The (Louisville, KY) Copyright: 2012 The Courier-Journal Contact: http://www.courier-journal.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/97 Author: Gregory A. Hall INDUSTRIAL HEMP DEBATE REACHES STATE FAIR AS RAND PAUL, JAMES COMER PUSH FOR LEGALIZATION The effort to legalize industrial hemp reached the Kentucky State Fair on Thursday as U.S. Sen. Rand Paul and state Agriculture Commissioner James Comer promoted their efforts to eliminate federal restrictions that amount to a ban on growing the plant. Comer said he will restart the Kentucky Hemp Commission to advocate the elimination of the federal restrictions. Paul, R-Ky., is a co-sponsor of a bill in the Senate that would take industrial hemp out of the control of the Drug Enforcement Administration so it could be treated like other agricultural crops. Comer also said he hopes for a similar bill to be filed in the Kentucky General Assembly to deal with the issue. Federal government regulations control - and effectively prohibit - production of the non-hallucinogenic plant that can be used to make products including twine, paper and clothing. Comer and other supporters have said it could help diversify Kentucky's agricultural economy. "The rest of the world can grow hemp and we're not, so we're losing out on that product," Paul said. But the efforts by Comer and Paul face an uphill battle in both legislatures. Paul and Comer made the announcement before the Kentucky Farm Bureau's annual country ham breakfast, which members of Kentucky's congressional delegation and the legislature attended. U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, D-3rd, said it's unlikely that an industrial hemp bill would pass in a Congress that hasn't been eager to deal with other weighty issues. "In today's environment, that's the kind of thing that is way down the priority list," Yarmuth said, adding he believes it deserves consideration. "There's just too many major issues - budget issues, tax issues, farm bill issues, things that are going to take precedence." Both of the agriculture committee chairmen in the Kentucky legislature said Thursday that they are willing to discuss the issue - - but stopped short of saying they'd allow a vote, something neither has allowed with previous industrial hemp bills. Comer pushed for an industrial hemp bill during the regular session of the General Assembly that ended in April. The issue received hearings in the House Agriculture and Small Business Committee. Committee Chairman Tom McKee, a Cynthiana Democrat, said he shares the concern, expressed in the hearings, by police that drug enforcement would be more difficult because of challenges in telling the difference between hemp and marijuana. "I think there are a lot of unanswered questions," McKee said, including the profitability and marketplace for the crop. Comer said his commission will research the potential economic impact. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom