Pubdate: Wed, 29 Jan 2014
Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal (NV)
Contact: http://www.reviewjournal.com/about/print/press/letterstoeditor.html
Copyright: 2014 Associated Press
Website: http://www.lvrj.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/233
Author: Kristen Wyatt, Associated Press

HEMP GROWING LEGALIZED IN BILL

China Industry Leader in Cousin to Marijuana

DENVER (AP) - The federal government is ready to let farmers grow 
cannabis - at least the kind that can't get people high.

Hemp - marijuana's non-intoxicating cousin that is used to make 
everything from clothing to cooking oil - could be cultivated in 10 
states under a federal farm bill agreement reached late Monday that 
allows the establishment of pilot growing programs.

The plant's return to legitimacy could clear the way for U.S. farmers 
to compete in an industry dominated by China. Though it hasn't been 
grown in the United States, the country is one of the fastest-growing 
hemp markets.

In 2011, the United States imported $11.5 million worth of legal hemp 
products, up from $1.4 million in 2000. Most of that growth was seen 
in hemp seed and hemp oil, which finds its way into granola bars and 
other products.

"This is big," said Eric Steenstra, president of Vote Hemp, a 
Washington-based group that advocates for the plant's legal 
cultivation. "We've been pushing for this a long time."

Legalized growing of hemp had congressional allies from both ends of 
the political spectrum. Democrats from marijuana-friendly states have 
pushed to legalize hemp cultivation, as have Republicans from states 
where the fibrous plant could be a profitable new crop.

"We are laying the groundwork for a new commodity market for Kentucky 
farmers," Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, said in a statement.

McConnell was a lead negotiator on the inclusion of hemp in the farm bill.

The full House and Senate still must agree on the bill, which will 
head to the House floor today.

State departments of agriculture then must designate hemp-cultivation 
pilot projects for research purposes.

Hemp and marijuana are the same species, Cannabis sativa. Marijuana, 
however, is cultivated to increase THC, a psychoactive chemical that 
exists in trace amounts in hemp.

Hemp has been used for rope but has hundreds of other uses: clothing 
and mulch from the fiber, foods such as hemp milk and cooking oil 
from the seeds, and creams, soap and lotions.

George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew hemp, but centuries later 
the plant was swept up in anti-drug efforts, and growing it without a 
federal permit was banned in the 1970 Controlled Substances Act.

The last Drug Enforcement Administration hemp permit was issued in 
1999 for a quarter-acre experimental plot in Hawaii. That permit 
expired in 2003.
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