Vilsack: U.S. must figure out hemp production

Associated Press
Source: theindependent.com


Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said he’s working with the Department of Justice to permit the importation of hemp seeds for cultivation.

The farm bill signed into law by President Obama allows the industrial production of hemp, marijuana’s non-intoxicating cousin.
 

But the federal government has effectively prevented the two states that want to grow the crop from obtaining seeds to start production.

Kentucky has sued the federal government to force it to release hemp seeds. Colorado is waiting on Vilsack’s go-ahead to get seeds from Canada.

At a news conference in Denver on the upcoming wildfire season, Vilsack said his agency is trying to resolve a conflict between what the farm bill permits and what federal drug laws prohibit.

“We’re going to figure it out,” he pledged, adding the crop could be an “extraordinary income opportunity.” He said he’s discussed the issue with Attorney General Eric Holder and passed onto him a law-review article that outlined one way the seeds could legally get to the states.

Hemp is the non-intoxicating agricultural cousin of marijuana. Recreational use of that drug is legal in Colorado and Washington state but still banned under federal law.

Meanwhile, Kentucky ag officials remain upbeat about gaining hemp seeds.

Attorneys for the Kentucky Agriculture Department and federal government resumed discussions with a judge last week to try to resolve a standoff over hemp seeds from Italy that customs officials have blocked from reaching fields for spring planting.

Afterward, a top aide to Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer sounded upbeat about getting the seeds in Kentucky soil in coming days.

“It’s a much less adversarial process now,” Comer chief of staff Holly Harris VonLuehrte said. “I’m hopeful that we’ll have this fully resolved.”

Kentucky’s pilot hemp projects for research were put on hold after the 250-pound seed shipment was stopped by U.S. customs officials in Louisville earlier this month.

The state’s Agriculture Department then sued the federal government in hopes of freeing the seeds. Defendants include the Justice Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Eight test projects are planned in Kentucky as part of a small-scale comeback for the long-banned crop that once flourished in the state. Six universities in the state plan to help with the research.

Growing hemp without a federal permit was banned in 1970 due to its classification as a controlled substance related to marijuana.

Federal officials also inspected the department’s facilities where the seeds would be stored for a short time before they’re sent to fields. The seeds would be safeguarded behind multiple locked doors and in locked containers, VonLuehrte said.