Legalization Could Benefit Farmers, Produce Jobs

LOUISVILLE (AP) Efforts to re-establish industrial hemp in the state where it once flourished won support Thursday from U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who said its legalization would benefit farmers and produce jobs to convert the plants into products.

Hemp supporters trumpeted the timely thumbs-up from Kentucky's most powerful Republican. It comes amid a lobbying campaign by hemp backers and detractors before state lawmakers resume their regular 2013 session next week in Frankfort.

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FRANKFORT Proponents of legalizing industrial hemp in Kentucky say momentum for their cause is growing. But, some key law enforcement agencies still aren't enamored of the idea.

Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer convened the resurrected Kentucky Hemp Commission for a meeting Monday by saying: "We are very aggressively seeking the input from law enforcement."

But just before the meeting began, a law enforcement official on the commission issued a press release opposing legalizing the plant, which is biologically similar to marijuana, although it contains only trace amounts of the chemical THC, which produces the marijuana high.

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Kentucky was once a national leader in hemp production and supporters say it could be a significant cash crop again for its farmers. However, it is presently against federal law to grow hemp because of the difficulty of distinguishing it from marijuana. ( It is legal to import hemp products but not to grow the plant.)

FRANKFORT - Proponents of legalizing industrial hemp in Kentucky say momentum for their cause is growing. But, some key law enforcement agencies still aren't enamored of the idea.

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Legalization Gains Momentum in State; Proponents Call It Cash Crop

FRANKFORT - Proponents of legalizing industrial hemp in Kentucky say momentum for their cause is growing. But, some key law enforcement agencies still aren't enamored of the idea.

Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer convened the resurrected Kentucky Hemp Commission for a meeting Monday by saying: "We are very aggressively seeking the input from law enforcement."

But just before the meeting began, a law enforcement official on the commission issued a press release opposing legalizing the plant, which is biologically similar to marijuana, although it contains only trace amounts of the chemical THC, which produces the marijuana high.

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FRANKFORT - The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce joined a growing chorus of high-profile supporters on Friday who want to let Kentucky farmers grow industrial hemp, but the effort continues to face an uphill battle.

Bills have been filed in the House and Senate that would license farmers to grow the plant - a close cousin to marijuana - if the federal government lifts its ban on the crop. Such proposals have failed to gain traction with lawmakers in previous years, but sponsors of the two bills said they believe the measure has a better chance this year.

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For advocates of reviving industrial hemp production in Kentucky, the state's past as a leading hemp producer shows the crop's potential.

Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer and Republican U.S. Sen. Rand Paul are among those pushing to revive industrial hemp in the state.

It's ironic, Comer said in a recent interview, that until the Civil War, Kentucky led the nation in industrial hemp production.

The earliest settlers westward brought hemp seed in their baggage, James F. Hopkins points out in A History of the Hemp Industry in Kentucky. During the early 1800s, Kentucky hemp fibers were in demand for rope, sailcloth and rough fabrics used to wrap bales of cotton and make pants that were called Kentucky jeans.

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