Pubdate: Sun, 09 Feb 2014
Source: Seattle Times (WA)
Copyright: 2014 Associated Press
Contact:  http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/409
Author: Nicholas K. Geranios, the Associated Press

STATE TO CONSIDER INDUSTRIAL HEMP

Legislature 2014

Bill Would Authorize WSU to Study Value, Feasibility of Endeavor

SPOKANE (AP) - With recreational marijuana use now legal in 
Washington, state legislators are eyeing whether the state should 
also allow an industrial hemp industry.

Hemp, like marijuana, comes from the cannabis plant but has much less 
THC, the active ingredient in marijuana that makes people high. The 
hemp plant has thousands of industrial uses and could provide a new 
cash crop for farmers.

The state Senate is considering a bill that would authorize 
Washington State University to study the feasibility and possible 
value of an industrial hemp industry in Washington.

"We have a long tradition of hemp usage in our country," said State 
Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, a sponsor of the bill. "The 
Declaration of Independence was written on hemp paper."

The federal government outlawed hemp decades ago as part of its 
efforts to stop marijuana production and use, Kohl-Welles said.

Several people spoke in support of the bill at a recent hearing by 
the Senate Agriculture, Water and Rural Economic Development committee.

Aimee Warner, a member of the Washington Hemp Industry Association, 
said the crop would grow well in the state's climate.

"Our farmers are ready to, and need to, start putting industrial hemp 
seeds into the ground immediately," Warner said. "There is an 
irrational fear of this historically persecuted crop."

Chris Mulick, a lobbyist for Washington State University, said the 
college is "eager to help the state understand the viability and 
profitability of growing industrial hemp."

But he warned the university must comply with U.S. laws in order to 
keep receiving federal research funds and student-aid dollars.

Mark Streuli of the state Department of Agriculture said that agency 
also supports hemp cultivation.

"We think if there's a prospect of a crop out there that enhances the 
viability of agriculture in Washington state, we support that," Streuli said.

There is no organized opposition to the hemp study bill, which passed 
the committee and was sent to the Ways and Means Committee.

In 2012, Washington residents passed Initiative 502, which legalized 
recreational marijuana and, coincidentally, gave new life to the hemp movement.

In other countries, hemp is used to make thousands of different 
products, including clothing, food, beauty products and biofuels.

The plants provide high yields with relatively few growing costs, 
Kohl-Welles said.

The new national Farm Bill allows hemp cultivation to begin for 
research purposes. Such studies must be concluded by next January. 
Ten states have approved hemp production, including California and Oregon.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom