Source: currentargus.com
Gov. Susana Martinez, (R) New Mexico, is apparently okay with tripling the state's medical marijuana harvest but adamantly opposed to growing hemp. Why?
The variety of cannabis commonly known as "industrial hemp" is cousin to marijuana but without the psychoactive components. You could burn a bushel in your bong without inducing anything more than a dull headache.
Although lacking medicinal value or recreational appeal, hemp is an enormously useful plant. The seeds are a high-protein food source, and the oil can be used in cooking as well as in paint, wax and numerous other applications. The fiber from the stalks is similar to linen and is used in clothing, insulation, carpeting, paper and rope.
Hemp could be "a hugely beneficial cash crop" for New Mexico farmers, according to Stuart Rose, founder of the Bioscience Center, a business incubator in Albuquerque. It requires much less water than cotton and literally grows like a weed, without expensive pesticides and fertilizer. "You can grow twice the value of alfalfa for half the water," Rose said.
And the economic potential extends beyond agriculture, he added. "I'm an entrepreneur, not a farmer, and I see substantial investment opportunities in processing hemp for fabric, paper and other uses. It could potentially mean hundreds of jobs for New Mexico."
Only the similarity of names led to hemp being included with marijuana on the federal list of "controlled substances." It's like being placed on the "No Fly" list because your name is Benny Laddin.
Congress belatedly recognized that this last year and added a provision to the Farm Bill encouraging universities and state ag programs to research hemp's potential as a commercial crop. Sen. Cisco McSorley's industrial hemp farming bill set rigorous conditions for oversight of any research projects and required the program to be self-supporting. The bill passed the Senate and House with large, bipartisan majorities only to be killed on the governor's desk.
In her veto message, Martinez cited "the contradictions it would create between state and federal law And, given the similarities between growing hemp and marijuana, this legislation could also create serious challenges for law enforcement in investigating drug crimes."
Since the bill proposed a program already approved by the feds, and there are virtually no similarities between growing hemp as a field crop and cultivating commercial marijuana in a greenhouse, it's hard not to view these objections as either ill-informed or simply specious.
While the governor was defenestrating industrial hemp, her Department of Health was expanding production of medical marijuana. The new rules allowed the current 23 licensed commercial growers to triple their production and opened applications for new growers to join the program. The department received 85 applications but hasn't decided how many will be approved.
In the first three months of this year, New Mexico's licensed growers (not including individuals growing plants for their own use) harvested 1,100 pounds of medical cannabis and reported revenues of about $5.7 million. They employ more than 500 people and paid $2.3 million in salaries and $426,000 in gross receipts taxes for the quarter.
Could industrial hemp provide a similar boost to the state's economy, particularly in the rural counties hard hit by the drought? It would certainly be far less valuable per pound, but on the other hand it wouldn't require the onerous regulatory oversight that burdens the medical pot business.
I respect people who have principled objections to legalizing recreational pot, although I believe the benefits far outweigh the potential negative consequences. But killing a modest and cost-free research proposal that could ultimately benefit the state's struggling farmers simply because of a confusion of names seems to me insupportable.
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