New York lawmakers back hemp measure

By David Hill
Source: pressconnects.com


(Photo: Morgan Spiehs/The Coloradoan)


A bill intended to stimulate the growth of industrial hemp on New York farms and backed by two Southern Tier lawmakers has won approval from both houses, they announced Wednesday.

The bill allows the transportation, processing, sale and distribution of hemp grown as part of the state’s research pilot program. The Senate passed its version Tuesday after adoption by the Assembly on June 2, both unanimously.

The bill specifically allows sale, distribution, transportation and processing of industrial hemp and products derived from it. It clarifies that those activities are still prohibited unless they’re part of a pilot research program. Previously, the law only specified growing was legal. The new measure also requires the agriculture commissioner to report to the governor and legislative leaders how the research program is going by Jan. 1, 2018.

Marketing hemp and making final products from it can now be pursued.

Industrial hemp is cultivar of cannabis, the plant most known today as the source of marijuana. Industrial hemp has too little of the active ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol, often referred to as THC, to produce a recreational high, yet is seen as having enormous economic potential.

Versions of the bill were principally sponsored by Sen. Tom O’Mara, R-Big Flats, and Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo, D-Endwell. They see industrial hemp, a cousin of the plant used to make marijuana, as a potentially significant addition to the region and state’s farms.

"This marks the beginning of a new industrial crop with enormous economic potential,” Lupardo said. “Industrial hemp will benefit not only local agriculture, but has the potential for numerous manufacturing opportunities in the Southern Tier and throughout the state."

New York’s pilot research is being carried out by Cornell University and Morrisville State College. Morrisville is working with J&D Farms in Georgetown, Madison County, as the first private farm in the state to have seeds for cultivation, according to Lupardo and O’Mara.

The 2014 federal farm bill allowed states to set up research programs in industrial hemp. Other states are farther along, particularly Kentucky and Colorado, people in the industry say. Once widely grown until outlawed because of its association with marijuana, hemp can be used in textiles, building materials, paper, food, skin-care products and as a source of the oil used in medical marijuana.

Farmers who advocate for it also say it can replenish fields used for more common commodity crops like corn and soy beans. Used this way, it can also help fend off insect and fungal diseases that feed on repeated plantings of the same crops.