Pubdate: Wed, 19 Feb 2014
Source: Kokomo Tribune (IN)
Copyright: 2014 The Kokomo Tribune
Contact:  http://www.ktonline.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1204
Author: Maureen Hayden, CNHI Statehouse Bureau

LEGALIZING POT'S COUSIN

Ind. Considers Bill to Allow Farmers to Grow Hemp.

Indianapolis, IN - Gregg Baumbaugh has 4,000 pounds of cannabis 
sitting in his automobile parts manufacturing plant. It wasn't 
illegal for him to import it, but it's against the law for Indiana 
farmers to grow the variety of cannabis he buys in bulk.

Baumbaugh wants to see that changed. The "weed" he uses to make the 
insides of interior doors and armrests at his Elkhart County facility 
doesn't have enough of the psychoactive ingredient THC to give anyone 
a marijuana mind-altering high.

"If somebody smokes the stuff we import, the only thing they're going 
to get is a nasty headache," said Baumbaugh, CEO of FlexForm.

Last month, Baumbaugh testified in favor of legislation that could 
open the door in Indiana to the farming and production of pot's less 
potent cousin, hemp, a multipurpose crop that can be used in the 
production of textiles, foods, plastics, building materials and medicines.

To the surprise of the bill's co-sponsor, Sen. Carlin Yoder, 
R-Middlebury, the legislation passed out of the conservative, 
Republican-controlled Senate with unanimous support and is headed for 
the House. Similar legislation in past years, entangled with efforts 
to legalize marijuana, never got out of committee.

"Nobody was expecting it was going to be a unanimous vote," said 
Yoder, who admitted he was a reluctant supporter of the bill until 
Baumbaugh -- whose plant is in Yoder's district -- enlightened him.

Baumbaugh spends almost $1 million a year importing hemp and other 
natural fibers that provide the lightweight, biodegradable material 
his automobile manufacturing customers, including Mercedes-Benz and 
Volkswagen, want used in their car interiors. The low weight of the 
material helps increase the car's fuel efficiency.

"I could save a lot of money if I could buy it locally from farmers 
who were allowed to grow it," Baumbaugh said. "It's easy to grow. 
That's why they call it a 'weed' -- you can grow it anywhere."

Yoder concurred. "The more research I do, the more ridiculous it 
seems that we're not growing hemp."

Marijuana and hemp are different varieties of the same species of 
plant, cannabis sativa, which is why it's not a legal cash crop in 
Indiana. It used to be: The federal government encouraged the state's 
farmers to grow industrial hemp rope during World War II.

But the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 lumped industrial hemp with 
marijuana and outlawed production of both, despite their chemical differences.

According to the Hemp Industries Association, manufacturers like 
Baumbaugh are allowed to import industrial hemp from countries that 
certify their product has a low level of THC -- less than 
three-tenths of one percent. That's a small fraction of the THC 
content of marijuana, which runs 14 to 30 percent.

Senate Bill 357, which Yoder co-sponsored with Sen. Richard Young, 
D-Milltown, is a first step toward pulling marijuana and hemp apart.

It would clear the way for universities to conduct research to 
identify seeds to be certified by the state to grow hemp, a critical 
step in culling the similar-looking marijuana and hemp plants.

The bill would put the Indiana State Chemist and Seed Commissioner at 
Purdue University in charge of overseeing hemp production, in 
cooperation with the Indiana State Police. It also creates a 
licensing procedure for Indiana farmers interested in growing hemp.

None of it has meaning, though, unless the federal government clears 
the way. That could happen soon. The new federal Farm Bill, signed by 
President Barack Obama this month, allows state agriculture 
departments and universities to grow hemp for agricultural research 
purposes. But it applies only to the 10 states that have legalized 
industrial hemp farming, as the Indiana legislation is attempting to do.

Lauren Stansbury, of the Hemp Industries Association, said the new 
federal farm bill provides a needed first step toward encouraging 
states to engage in industrial hemp production.

"So often, hemp gets caught up in the politics of marijuana," she 
said. "But we're seeing more states recognize the agricultural value of hemp."

Yoder says it helps to have farmers and manufacturers behind the 
bill. Retired Indiana Farm Bureau lobbyist Bob Kraft testified for 
the bill when it was in the Senate, lending the legislation more credence.

Baumbaugh was glad to see him there. "I was afraid it was just going 
to me and a bunch of potheads," he said. "I thought if that happens, 
we won't have a snowball's chance in hell of seeing this thing get passed."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom