Farmers begin planting hemp in Colorado

By Anthony Gucciardi
Source: rimcountrygazette

In the event that Colorado manages to generate acres of hemp without the federal government raiding the super efficient substance that is classified as a dangerous drug, it will provide a serious industry change that may spread to other states and potentially even federal law.

Many farmers in Colorado will be expanding their list of planted crops this Spring after groundbreaking legislation was passed last November that allowed not only for the legalization of marijuana, but hemp as well. Now in case you’re not familiar, hemp is actually a multi-purpose substance that does not produce the high effects of marijuana. In fact, it’s mainly used as a super cheap and highly efficient building material — at least in other nations where ridiculous bans are not enforced on the ‘high-free’ material. 

Colorado farmers like Michael Bowman will be planting 100 acres of hemp to be harvested and sold off as not only building material, but a highly nutritious superfood. While marijuana is considerably high in the substance known as THC  (delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol), which of course is the compound that produces the ‘high’ effects, it’s also significantly low in what’s known as CDB (cannabidiol). That’s where hemp comes in. Both THC and CDB are known as  cannabinoids, but hemp is particularly high in CDB while lacking in THC.

Hemp as a Superfood, Industry Transformer

These cannabinoids have actually been promoted by many first hand sources as not only a health optimizing substance, but a serious solution to cancer. One popular documentary titled ‘Run from the Cure’ by Rick Simpson, which is available for free on Youtube, focuses on the use of hemp oil to conquer cancer.

  Rich in essential oils, fiber, and a close to complete amino acid profile, hemp contains beneficial ingredients such as:

• Linoleic acid (44% of the weight of hempseed is actually full of edible oils)
• Omega 3 fatty acids (shown time and time again to fight against anxiety, depression, and even inflammation)
• Omega-6
• A ‘complete’ amino profile that surpasses the profile of eggs, milk, soy, and many meats. This includes the 9 essential aminos that the human body cannot produce on its own.

It is for these reasons that hemp is utilized today in many high quality products like protein shakes, energy bars, and many more food products. Two tablespoons of shelled hemp seeds contain about 11 grams of protein and 2 grams of unsaturated omega-3 fatty acids.

Its versatility allows it to be a prime ingredient even in clothing and fabric-based industries. It could  transform the entire industry, replacing unsustainable materials with environmentally friendly hemp.

Feds: ‘We Will Come for Your Hemp’

That is if the federal government doesn’t seize it across the nation. The DEA has its sights set on confiscating all hemp planted and grown in the United States through citing the Controlled Substances Act, which doesn’t differentiate between marijuana and hemp. The agents, which will ignore state law and enforce federal law throughout any state, say that they will be going after farmers who plant non-THC hemp as if they were planting marijuana. After all, they say it doesn’t matter what it actually is.

“It really doesn’t matter whether it looks different or it looks the same,” DEA agent Paul Roach told NPR. “If it’s the cannabis plant, it’s in the Controlled Substances Act and, therefore, enforceable under federal drug law.”

In the event that Colorado manages to generate acres of hemp without the federal government raiding the super efficient substance that is classified as a dangerous drug, it will provide a serious industry change that may spread to other states and potentially even federal law. In the more likely scenario of federal agents jailing hemp farmers and raiding their ‘drug’ operations, an intellectual and legal resistance will be in order to attempt to alter the ridiculous laws surrounding the cultivation of hemp.

Hemp Gets The Green Light In New Colorado Pot Measure

by ZACHARY BARR
Source: npr.org

With recreational marijuana now legal in Colorado, small-scale pot shops will open up soon in places like Denver and Boulder. But that's not the only business that could get a boost: Large-scale commercial farmers may also be in line to benefit.

Why? When Colorado voters legalized marijuana last November, they also legalized hemp.

As plants, marijuana and hemp look related, and they are. But while marijuana is bred to get its users high, hemp is all business — grown for food and other everyday uses. Hemp contains very little of the chemical THC, the active ingredient in pot.

That might be news to farmer Michael Bowman's neighbors. "When they hear that we're growing hemp, they think we're growing marijuana," he says.

Bowman is from Wray, a small town on the eastern Colorado plains. He thinks hemp needs some rehabilitation and that he's the man to do it.

A Wonder Crop?

Bowman will plant 100 acres of hemp this spring on his 3,000-acre farm, where the winter wind now whips across barren wheat and corn fields.

DEA Special Agent Paul Roach says federal law does not distinguish between hemp and marijuana.

Courtesy Michael Bowman

"We think 100 acres is a good number," he says. "It's not a garden plot, and it's enough to have enough product at the end of the day that we can do something real with it."

To hear him and other activists tell it, hemp can be used to make just about anything: rope, paper, plastic, clothing, shoe polish, car parts and even dog chew toys — to name just a few of the possibilities.

Bowman says he'll turn his first crop into an edible oil. "Our goal is really to try to understand: Is this a viable crop? Getting the research and data gathered this year will be a good step one," he says.

When asked if it's a political experiment as much as an agricultural one, Bowman says: "It's probably more of a political experiment at this point."

A Growing Trend

In the eyes of the federal government, growing cannabis is a violation of the Controlled Substances Act. Special Agent Paul Roach of the Drug Enforcement Administration says federal law does not distinguish between hemp and marijuana.

"It really doesn't matter whether it looks different or it looks the same," he says. "If it's the cannabis plant, it's in the Controlled Substances Act and, therefore, enforceable under federal drug law."

The Department of Justice says it's reviewing the legalization initiatives approved in Colorado and in Washington state. For now, the United States is the only industrialized country that bans hemp.

Yet it's also the world's largest consumer of hemp products. According to an industry association, total sales of products containing hemp are estimated to be around $450 million.

"Hemp's trendy," says Frank Peters, who works in the health and beauty department at a Whole Foods in Boulder, Colo. In this section, you could throw a hemp seed in any direction and hit a product made with the stuff: soaps and lotions, oils and protein powders. And there's a new product on the shelf called Hemp Hearts.

"Hemp Hearts are the partially shelled seed," Peters explains, "which is going to be the more nutritional part of the plant."

And what do people do with Hemp Hearts? "They eat it. They're going to put it in yogurt, over cereal. You can bake with it, things like that," he says.

Peters says it tastes just like any seed. "It's not really strong one way or another," he says.

Its taste may be rather bland, but its politics are anything but. The Colorado Legislature is giving itself until July 2014 to decide how to regulate hemp.

Kentucky State Police: Hemp backers 'naive' after endorsing Senate bill

By Joe Arnold
Source: whas11.com

FRANKFORT, Ky (WHAS11) -- With momentum building for an effort to license hemp farming in Kentucky, law enforcement leaders lashed out on Monday, saying hemp's supporters are looking at the issue "through rose-colored glasses."

The pushback came as Kentucky's Industrial Hemp Commission met at the Agriculture Commissioner's offices and voted to endorse Senate hemp legislation.  

All three representatives of law enforcement on the commission were absent, including Operation UNITE's Dan Smoot who joined in the news release from the Kentucky Narcotic Officers' Association in opposition to Senate Bill 50 and House Bill 33.

"I support law enforcement. I want them to be happy with this bill," said Agriculture Commissioner James Comer (R).  "But they are unwilling to compromise just like what's going on in Washington, DC."

"All the rhetoric you're hearing from the small group of proponents seeking to reintroduce hemp cultivation is based on desired outcomes, not reality," Smoot said.

"I think I'm looking at reality," countered Sen. Paul Hornback (R-Shelbyville) when apprised of the news release.  "I'm an eternal optimist.   And I think this is a crop that is a new crop, new opportunities for this state.  And I think it moves the state forward."

As chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Hornback plans to bring his hemp bill up for a vote in committee after a hearing on February 11.  But - it's unclear whether the measure would be considered by the full senate.

With endorsements from statewide groups and support from Senator Rand Paul and Congressmen John Yarmuth and Thomas Massie -- the idea is gaining momentum.  The hemp commission meeting has outgrown a conference room - moved to the Ag Department's garage.

Though Kentucky State Police were not a part of the law enforcement news release, the agency agreed to an interview request by WHAS11 to state its position on the issue.

"Everything that our agency has uncovered up to this point would indicate that it would be more of a liability to our state and its citizens, the criminal justice system, that there would really be no benefit whatsoever," said Trooper Michael Webb, speaking on behalf of KSP. (Blogger's Note: What an incredible display of astounding ignorance or willful obfuscation)

Though hemp has only trace amounts of the chemical that gives marijuana users a high, it looks similar - which police say complicates their work. But the bill's sponsor, himself a farmer, says cross-pollination would help police.

"Believe me, there is one thing that a marijuana grower does not want is hemp growing around his marijuana plants,' Hornback said.  "Because it's going to lessen the effect, it's going to lessen the value."

"I think it's very naive to think that Mexican drug cartels would not be interested in a regulated crop here of hemp," Webb said.  "That they would not put pressure on our farmers and put pressure in other ways." (Blogger's Note II: Mr. Webb, please enlighten me as to why Mexican drug cartels would be interested in THC-free industrial hemp. )

Comer says there are enough votes in both the House and Senate to pass the Senate hemp bill, but the law enforcement opposition is believed to make the effort more politically difficult.


 (Blogger's Note III: below is the real reason law enforcement is opposed to hemp and all forms of cannabis.)

Why Hemp?

Can hemp be the solution?

By Helga Ahmad
Source: tribune.com.pk

Intermittently, the media exposes the public to the dangers of the looming food crisis we face. One is also made aware of the water crisis and its role in quickening the impending food shortage. What is never mentioned is that our soil is dying and its limited carrying capacity has resulted in massive additions of chemical fertilisers, which, without a balanced organic base in the soil, does not result in healthy growth of crops. The soil, therefore, needs to be protected through intensive spraying of pesticides.

More than a decade ago, a group of Dutch scientists, undertook a study in Sialkot, from where fresh vegetables are supplied to the vegetable markets of Lahore and Islamabad. A full growing cycle of the vegetables was observed, along with water sources, soil and periodic testing of the growing vegetables. The results of the tests confirmed that the vegetables were not meant for human consumption.

Around the same time, one came to know of young girls, not yet in their teens, who were being treated for cancer. These girls were from the tobacco-growing areas and their duty during the harvesting season was to string the leaves for the drying chambers. Today, tobacco requires up to 16 sprays. An effort to establish an extensive programme to raise natural predators for pests failed as the pesticide lobby was too strong. A similar scenario is prevailing in the cotton-growing belt with cotton-pickers exposed to the remnants of the extensive spraying on the crops.

Cotton requires a staggering 125 million kilogrammes of pesticides annually in the US alone. Pesticides are possibly the greatest toxic threat to our soil, air, water and natural communities because they often leave permanent after-effects and their toxicity increases as they are consumed up the food chain. Many pesticides are known carcinogens and can also cause immune-deficiency disorders.

Cottonseed cake, a major animal feed, is also a carrier of pesticides, besides freshly grown fodder. And so, starting from the tip of our mountain ranges, where cottonseed cake is feeding stall-fed animals, pesticides are seeping into our soil throughout the country. Perhaps, we need to look towards the West where efforts are underway to find alternative solutions to these hazards. The focus in the West and in China is on the benefits of cultivating hemp (cannabis sativa). The vast potential of this plant was acknowledged during the last decade after Beijing’s Hemp Research Centre was established. Advanced technologies in reducing the lignin content in hemp were developed, which turned it into an easily workable fibre for highly sophisticated textiles. Twenty-thousand hectares of hemp have already been planted in China with the added benefit providing income for millions of small-scale farmers as large areas of cotton-growing land is freed for food production, besides reducing the input of chemical fertilisers and pesticides on cotton crops.

The present shortage of wood fibre at the global level has also contributed considerably to ignite interest in hemp. Plant breeders have developed hemp varieties with increased fibre content. And so, the world is moving on, while it seems that we are meant to stagnate. Or, is there a spark igniting?

Hemp Seed oil used on an industrial scale

By Dionne Payn
Source: HempLifestyleMagazine.com

Q & A with Dave Seber (Hemp Shield)

You mentioned that you've been a long-term advocate of hemp, how

did you get involved in the first place?

I was in the lumber business in fact I sold Redwood and lumber. I
felt like I owed dues to the forest and when I went out to study
possible sources of fibre we could use to replace the amount that
were taken out of the forest, the only plant that rivalled the
amount of wood we use is hemp. 

Hemp is renewable and you can grow it in 120 days, compared to a
forest which grows anywhere from 40 years to 300 years. Lets
compare a tree that takes to 300 years to mature which we use to
produce a house that lasts maybe 50 - 75 years versus using a plant
that matures in 120 days to produce a house that will last the same
amount of time. That is sustainability, the other isn't.

In the early 90s I approached the materials and engineering lab at
Washington State University who agreed to undertake a project with
us to produce the first hemp MDF panels. We proved that hemp is
usable in factories using basic manufacturing techniques with very
minor alterations to how MDF was made from wood at that time.

The issue was one of scale, because the amount of material that we
use out of the forest is tremendous. The average composites mill
uses 400 to 1400 dry tonnes of fibre every day. Getting a crop of
hemp of the same size would take some doing. 

So I then looked at developing some products that don't need to
have that giant amount of yield. The first one that I developed
after the boards was a hemp fiberglass type product where we could
replace e-glass (alumino-borosilicate glass) with hemp fibreglass
and make a plastic. They are now actually going to start making
cars like that in Canada called the Fisker. 

The issue is that in order to save the forests we need to build up
to a scale where we can actually rival the amount of material that
is taken out of the forest. So we need an intermediary product,
which was where Hemp Shield came along. I thought that was an ideal
match because the Canadians actually produce enough hemp seed oil
for us to make a fairly good penetration into the coatings and
sealing market and justify the continued growth of the industry

The Canadians have been focusing on the seeds and the oil because
they have been supplying the foods and cosmetics market. I'm a
newcomer with Hemp Shield because we also use the hemp seed oil and
we fit in really well with their programme because we don't need
the higher grades that they use for food. In fact we can use them
after they are no longer "usable" or food grade. We are treating
wood so it's a different story. 

Can you tell us a bit about your product Hemp Shield?

Hemp Shield is the first modern hemp oil containing wood
preservative and deck sealer. It is a totally revolutionary product
in every aspect from it being a water-based penetrating oil to
being a single coat product to having no formaldehyde-base,
fungicides, algaecides or mildewcides in it. 

The clear version of Hemp Shield contains no fossil fuel compounds,
no hazardous air pollutants and no fumes. The shaded versions have
a tiny bit of volatile organic compounds in the pigment itself
which makes up a very small fraction of the product. 

We have a full line of shades, including clear, Cedar, Redwood,
Hickory and Chestnut and we are about add a grey. Hemp Shield has
very wide coverage and it is very competitively priced. It is the
greenest, best, deck sealer ever made or at least on the market
today.

Our testing shows that Hemp Shield is hundreds of percent better
than every other product that's out there, and we believe the
reason why is because the hemp seed oil molecules are smaller than
those used in most traditional oils and they are able to penetrate
the mood much better.

Hemp Shield was developed as an exterior product, concentrating
specifically on decking and fencing but the truth of it is that
Hemp Shield works well on any sort of wood project including
furniture and marine applications. 

We have been having real success with our retail sales. We are in
the process of setting up a national distribution network and are
in negotiation with several national chains and smaller outlets. We
are about to establish a branch of Hemp Shield in Canada because
there is actually a strong demand for at there. 

Every component of the Hemp Shield proprietary formula is
state-of-the-art, with the highest concentrations that can be
included and the highest quality. For example our transoxide
pigments are actually processed into microscopic little needles and
when the light shines on them, they make the UV rays go sideways so
you can still see the wood. 

We wanted to prove that you can be green, high quality and superior
and you can still be competitive in the market. We wanted to be an
antidote to the greenwashing that goes on in the building materials
industry. 

What sort of projects have you used Hemp Shield for?

Last year we were involved in a project with a group that had
acquired an old ski resort called Tellmark in northern Wisconsin.
The Lodge at Tellmark happens to be one of the biggest cedar-trim
buildings in the world. It was quite old and dingy and the group
put a lot of work into cleaning it up and getting it ready. Then
they wanted to figure out what they could put on it to keep it in
good shape and after doing some research they came upon our Hemp
Shield. 

There are 300 odd rooms attached to the lodge, each with the deck,
walls, and hallways all made of cedar panelling and Hemp Shield was
used inside and out. They absolutely loved it because there were no
fumes therefore it posed no problem for interior use. They didn't
have to worry about any health issues or a disruption of their
business.

What has the response been from other people in the building

industry?

Those who've tried it love it. There is some resistance just
because many people are not used to having products perform in the
way that Hemp Shield does. 

We do not hide the fact that the product is made of hemp or has
hemp seed oil as a major component next to the water that it's
based on, because that really is the reason why it is as good as it
is. We are trying to demonstrate the viability of hemp as a true
economic and environmental engine for our country and the world. We
are also making the argument that we ought to be growing this crop
domestically in the United States and demonstrating that it can be
done at different scales so hemp can support all levels of
agriculture and industry profitably.

What do you think the impact would be on your business if it was

legal to grow hemp in the US?

I think that it could cause a major stimulus for the entire
economy. From the level of families farming all the way to
re-localising the manufacturing industry. 

Most building materials are based on a business model of
high-volume, low-profit margin. Companies can't afford to pay a lot
to transport raw materials around, so we need to grow the hemp and
literally put the factories in the fields, in the same way they
used to have all the wood product factories located close to
forests to produce building materials. 

I work with a company in Wisconsin called Original Green
Distribution who distribute Hemp Shield and we are also producing
hemp cement which we think could lower the overall costs of
construction by about 30%. All these things would tend to give us a
major stimulus in an area that we desperately need such as
homebuilding, localised manufacturing and farming. 

Hemp may not be the cure all for everything but it definitely is a
big major factor that could contribute to all these things.

Unfortunately the United States has fallen behind the rest of the
world because of restrictions on not allowing the growing of
industrial hemp or any sort of development of the agricultural side
of it. 

Canadians are the exact opposite. They have legalised industrial
hemp, they grow industrial hemp, they are actively developing
research facilities to develop applications for the fibre after 20
years because they penetrated the food end of the markets to a
fairly successful degree and they are looking for the next step to
up the scale of it. This is why it would be so important for us to
grow hemp here in the United States, it could be an ideal crop for
us in every way.

You have been involved in creating the first university level

course on industrial hemp in the US. Can you tell us about that?

We are working with Oregon State University to create the first
course that covers every single aspect of hemp from the history of
it to all the different uses of the crop. The course is being
taught by Andrea Hermann who is the current president of the Hemp
Industry Association, former president of the Canadian Hemp Trade
Association and also one of the main Principals of Hemp Shield
Canada. I contributed the material for the coatings and sealers
part of the course.

It's a 90 hour course and is going to be available in March via the
Oregon State University e-campus which means that any student from
any accredited university or college can take this course online
for a credit towards their degree.

It's one of the biggest things to happen since the writing of Jack
Herer's book "The Emperor Wears No Clothes".

Industrial Hemp Reform Emerging From Marijuana Legalization Election Victories

By Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director
Source: hawaiinewsdaily.com

One of the major public policy and business fronts to end cannabis prohibition in America is to pressure the federal government to allow American farmers the same ability to cultivate industrial hemp like farmers in the United Kingdom, France, Russia and even Canada do under current so-called anti-drug international treaties. 

Ninety percent of hemp used in the United States is cultivated and imported from Canada.

What sane reason can be employed by the federal government to ban industrial hemp cultivation when Canadian farmers can prosper from cultivating it?

Numerous states–just like with decriminalization, medicalization and legalization–have passed industrial hemp reform laws that run afoul of the federal government’s anti-cannabis policies. This has created upward political pressure on Congress to introduce needed hemp law reform.

Check out this recent Washington Post article profiling lobbying efforts to get hemp legalized.

You can help out by signing the White House petition to bring the matter of industrial hemp law reform before the Obama Administration for a public reply.

See the dozen or so state hemp laws here.

To learn more about hemp and law reform efforts in states and Congress check out VoteHemp.

10 Eye Opening Facts About Hemp

Ky. hemp supporters gain big endorsement

By BRUCE SCHREINER 
Source: kentucky.com

LOUISVILLE, KY. — Industrial hemp's repositioning toward mainstream status gained ground with a timely endorsement from the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce. But the plant's proponents have more work to do in cultivating support to legalize a crop that once was a Bluegrass state staple.

The chamber said recently that provided there's adequate regulatory oversight, it supports legislation to position Kentucky as a leader in the production and commercialization of industrial hemp. The position was hailed by hemp backers, noting the chamber's political clout.

"When Kentucky's leading voice for small businesses and economic development endorses a piece of legislation, lawmakers sit up and listen," said state Agriculture Commissioner James Comer, a former state lawmaker.

Comer is leading the comeback campaign for the versatile crop outlawed for decades due to its association with its cousin, marijuana. Hemp has a negligible content of THC, the psychoactive compound that gives marijuana users a high.

Comer, a farmer himself, touts hemp's potential while crisscrossing the state, saying Kentucky can become a hub of hemp production and manufacturing. The crop can be turned into paper, clothing, food, biofuel, lotions and other products.

"We could be the Silicon Valley of industrial hemp manufacturing right here in Kentucky," Comer said recently.

Bills aimed at legalizing the crop have been introduced in the Kentucky House and Senate, and lawmakers are expected to debate the issue when they return to the State Capitol in Frankfort next month to resume the 2013 session.

But hemp backers acknowledge challenges remain, namely resistance from Kentucky State Police. And that opposition could have a spillover effect with lawmakers hesitant to oppose the state's top law enforcement agency.

State Police Commissioner Rodney Brewer last month restated the agency's opposition, saying law enforcement may have difficulty distinguishing between hemp and marijuana.

Comer met with Brewer following a meeting of the Kentucky Industrial Hemp Commission late last year, but the commissioner said they've had no follow-up discussions. Comer said he'd like to have state police support but sees the agency's resistance as a "non-factor."

"I was a state representative for 11 years and very few bills ever passed without somebody being opposed to them," he said.

Republican Sen. Paul Hornback of Shelbyville, lead sponsor of one of the hemp bills, said state police opposition will be an obstacle. But he said the state chamber's support for legalizing the crop helps reshape the crop's image.

"Everybody has to feel comfortable with the bill," said Hornback, a tobacco farmer who once was lukewarm to hemp. "With the stature that the state chamber has, I think it does legitimize it. It brings credibility to the issue."

Supporters say there's a ready-made market for hemp, pointing to industry estimates that U.S. retail sales of hemp products exceed $400 million. Hemp is grown legally in Canada and many other countries, and imports into the U.S. include finished hemp products.

At least a couple of Kentucky companies - a tobacco processor and a seed supplier - have expressed interest in branching out into hemp. Hemp supporters say that could lead to jobs, especially in rural areas.

But the resistance of state police could be a sticking point for some lawmakers, including the top House leader.

"It will be difficult to pass any legislation that doesn't have the support of the Kentucky State Police and Kentucky's law enforcement community," said House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg. "As long as they have reservations, I have reservations."

Another potentially key player in the debate, Rep. Tom McKee, D-Cynthiana, said the biggest impediments to hemp's comeback are the federal ban on hemp and the concerns of state police.

But McKee, chairman of the House Agriculture and Small Business Committee, hasn't yet staked out a position on the issue.

"We don't want to close a door on any viable agricultural crop that is profitable and would be well-accepted," he said.

Under Hornback's bill, hemp growers would need licenses, and applicants would have to pass criminal background checks.

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul said he would seek a waiver from the federal ban on hemp for Kentucky if state lawmakers vote to legalize the crop. Paul also has pushed for federal legislation to remove restrictions on hemp cultivation. The Kentucky Republican said hemp supporters need to persuade law enforcement skeptics that the crop "won't make the drug problem worse."

"We live in a modern world where we have GPS," he said in a recent speech in Frankfort. "Couldn't a farmer or anybody who wants to grow it just get a simple one-page permit and say these are my GPS coordinates where it's being grown and it could be checked?"

As for Comer, the agriculture commissioner has said he won't defy the federal government on the issue.

The crop hasn't been grown in the U.S. since the 1950s. Kentucky once was a leading producer of industrial hemp. During World War II, the U.S. government encouraged farmers to grow hemp for the war effort because other industrial fibers, often imported from overseas, were in short supply.

Because it can thrive in small, sloping plots, Comer said hemp could be a viable crop on marginal land in central and eastern Kentucky.

"A decade from now, someone will look back and think, 'You mean there were people opposed to growing industrial hemp?'" he said.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/01/20/2483327/hemp-supporters-gain-big-endorsement.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/01/20/2483327/hemp-supporters-gain-big-endorsement.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/01/20/2483327/hemp-supporters-gain-big-endorsement.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/01/20/2483327/hemp-supporters-gain-big-endorsement.html#storylink=cpy

"When Kentucky's leading voice for small businesses and economic development endorses a piece of legislation, lawmakers sit up and listen," said state Agriculture Commissioner James Comer, a former state lawmaker.

Comer is leading the comeback campaign for the versatile crop outlawed for decades due to its association with its cousin, marijuana. Hemp has a negligible content of THC, the psychoactive compound that gives marijuana users a high.

Comer, a farmer himself, touts hemp's potential while crisscrossing the state, saying Kentucky can become a hub of hemp production and manufacturing. The crop can be turned into paper, clothing, food, biofuel, lotions and other products.

"We could be the Silicon Valley of industrial hemp manufacturing right here in Kentucky," Comer said recently.

Bills aimed at legalizing the crop have been introduced in the Kentucky House and Senate, and lawmakers are expected to debate the issue when they return to the State Capitol in Frankfort next month to resume the 2013 session.

But hemp backers acknowledge challenges remain, namely resistance from Kentucky State Police. And that opposition could have a spillover effect with lawmakers hesitant to oppose the state's top law enforcement agency.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/01/20/2483327/hemp-supporters-gain-big-endorsement.html#storylink=cpy