Hemp
for
Victory
1/29/99
Marc Brandl1999 brings renewed hope and opportunity for beleaguered farmers in a number of states as hemp activists seek to score legislative victories in state houses around the country. Encouraged by success in Canada and the positive comments of two state governors, Minnesota, North Dakota and Hawaii already have hemp bills moving through their legislatures. In Minnesota, lawmakers introduced hemp bills in both chambers of the legislature. State senate majority leader Roger Moe (DFL-Erskine), is the author of SF0122, which if enacted, would, "Classify hemp as an agricultural crop subject to regulation and registration by the [MN] commissioner of agriculture." This would allow people to apply to the commissioner to grow, "experimental and demonstration plots of industrial hemp." On the house side, Rep. Phyllis Kahn (DFL-Minneapolis) is the chief sponsor of HF0064, which is a companion to the Senate bill. Kahn told The Week Online, "Industrial Hemp is an important issue for an agricultural state like Minnesota. Minnesota was a large hemp producer in World War II. We've seen a dying base of knowledge about hemp -- and that brings an urgency to passing this bill." A similar bill passed in both the Minnesota House and Senate in the last legislative session, but was vetoed by then-governor Arne Carlson. Newly inaugurated Governor Jesse Ventura has made several positive statements about hemp, but obstacles still remain. "A new hurdle [for the bill] is that Republicans now control the house," says Rep. Kahn, "and they voted in their last party caucus to oppose hemp legislation." In North Dakota, HB 1256 , which would remove hemp from the states list of "prohibited noxious weed seeds," has already been approved unanimously by the Agriculture Committee. The sponsor of the bill is Rep. Dave Monson (R-Osnabrock) who has sponsored successful hemp legislation in the past. Chris Conrad, author of "Hemp: Lifeline to the Future" told the WOL, "we expect that legislators in North Dakota will be raising the issue a lot." In Hawaii, HB 32 has been introduced on the heels of an endorsement of hemp by Governor Benjamin Cayetano, who thinks hemp production may be a boon to the economy. The bill would take the first step of instructing the University of Hawaii, Hilo to, "Study the feasibility and desirability of Industrial hemp production in Hawaii." The most difficult obstacle in the way of any state wanting to grow hemp is the response of the federal government. "We obviously need the cooperation of the federal government." Stated Rep. Kahn, "Right now we are in a Catch 22 -- the feds won't move until the states move but when states do act, its somewhat meaningless until the feds come around." Conrad largely concurs with this sentiment, "The big question is who is going to plant it in the soil. Whichever state does this is going to have a lawsuit from the federal government." Despite these roadblocks, Conrad is still optimistic about the future of hemp in America, and expects more political candidates to be "hemp-friendly" in the next election cycle. "The more people continue to dislike Congress -- the better our chances of success in the 2000 elections."
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
