This Monday, Hawaii came closer than any state has come to being the first state to legalize hemp for industrial use. With the passage of House Bill 154 HD2 SD1, the director of the college of tropical agriculture and human resources at the University of Hawaii is authorized to establish a two-year industrial hemp remediation and biofuel crop pilot program.
This would be the first of its kind in the United States.
The bill passed unanimously on the floor of the House earlier this month, and is expected to be approved by the Senate.
“People now understand how industrial hemp can benefit Hawaii,” said State Representative Cynthia Thielen “The hemp plant itself uses phytoremediation to cleanse the soil of pesticides, heavy metals, oil, and other toxins.”
“Adding industrial hemp as a source of biofuel is another avenue worth pursuing,” Thielen said. “Reducing our dependence on foreign oil through the use of a renewable resource would be very good for Hawaii.”
Cultivation of industrial hemp is currently prohibited by the federal government, but legislation has been introduced in Congress to allow the commercial production of hemp in the United States. Currently, the U.S. is the only industrialized nation to prohibit the production of hemp for industrial uses.
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