SPRINGFIELD, Ill. • Farmland in Illinois will not be sprouting legal hemp any time soon, lawmakers in the state House decided today.
An effort to allow Illinois farmers to grow and process hemp, sponsored by state Rep. Ken Dunkin, D-Chicago, failed to by a vote of 28-83 after a lengthy debate of the merits of the industrial crop, which is found in products ranging from clothing to fuel.
The Illinois Farm Bureau supported the bill, in addition to the state's chapter of the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Law. Both groups believe that legalizing the processing of hemp would help farmers to cash in on a booming industry.
Dunkin said the bill would make the state "part of the new green movement all across the country."
Nine states have passed legislation to remove the legal barriors to growing hemp.
Opponents argued that the bill would put the state on shaky legal footing, considering the fact that the federal government has not yet approved farming of the crop.
Proponents emphasized the fact that commercial hemp contains 0.3 percent or less of THC, the psychoactive chemical found in ratios of 5 to 20 percent in marijuana.
The bill is HB1383.
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