Monday, February 24, 2014
Boulder Colorado Hemp Meeting #2/ This will be the first day that state hemp farming and R&D license application will be available for the first time ever...
Boulder County Hemp meeting Part 2. Expert Panel, gift bags to all attendees, hemp treats, info about cultivation programs, hemp seed and plants will be available and much more. Seating is limited to 209 people so tickets will be available for pre purchase of $10 each. More info to come. Event is at at the main Boulder Library in the Canyon Theater. For more info on sponsorship, participation or other plz call 720.401.5609 or email info@growhempcolorado.com
Friday, February 7, 2014
Agricultural Act of 2014~ 2014 Farm Bill Industrial Hemp Section
698
1 SEC. 7606. LEGITIMACY OF INDUSTRIAL HEMP RESEARCH.
2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the Controlled
3 Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.), the Safe and
4 Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act (20 U.S.C. 7101
5 et seq.), chapter 81 of title 41, United States Code, or
6 any other Federal law, an institution of higher education
7 (as defined in section 101 of the Higher Education Act
8 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)) or a State department of agri9
culture may grow or cultivate industrial hemp if—
10 (1) the industrial hemp is grown or cultivated
11 for purposes of research conducted under an agricul12
tural pilot program or other agricultural or academic
13 research; and
14 (2) the growing or cultivating of industrial
15 hemp is allowed under the laws of the State in which
16 such institution of higher education or State depart17
ment of agriculture is located and such research oc18
curs.
19 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
20 (1) AGRICULTURAL PILOT PROGRAM.—The
21 term ‘‘agricultural pilot program’’ means a pilot pro22
gram to study the growth, cultivation, or marketing
23 of industrial hemp—
24 (A) in States that permit the growth or
25 cultivation of industrial hemp under the laws of
26 the State; and
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699
1 (B) in a manner that—
2 (i) ensures that only institutions of
3 higher education and State departments of
4 agriculture are used to grow or cultivate
5 industrial hemp;
6 (ii) requires that sites used for grow7
ing or cultivating industrial hemp in a
8 State be certified by, and registered with,
9 the State department of agriculture; and
10 (iii) authorizes State departments of
11 agriculture to promulgate regulations to
12 carry out the pilot program in the States
13 in accordance with the purposes of this
14 section.
15 (2) INDUSTRIAL HEMP.—The term ‘‘industrial
16 hemp’’ means the plant Cannabis sativa L. and any
17 part of such plant, whether growing or not, with a
18 delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of not
19 more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis.
20 (3) STATE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.—
21 The term ‘‘State department of agriculture’’ means
22 the agency, commission, or department of a State
23 government responsible for agriculture within the
24 State.
President Obama Signs Farm Bill with Amendment to Allow Industrial Hemp Research
 CONTACT: Lauren Stansbury 402-540-1208 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting  402-540-1208 FREE end_of_the_skype_highlightinglauren@votehemp.com President Obama Signs Farm Bill with Amendment to Allow Industrial Hemp Research State Hemp Research Pilot Programs to become First Step in Restoring American Hemp Agriculture and Manufacturing Industries
WASHINGTON, DC — Vote Hemp, the nation's leading grassroots hemp advocacy organization working to revitalize industrial hemp production in the U.S., is excited to report that President Obama has signed the Farm Bill which contains an amendment to legalize hemp production for research purposes. Originally introduced by Representatives Jared Polis (D-CO), Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), the amendment allows State Agriculture Departments, colleges and universities to grow hemp, defined as the non-drug oilseed and fiber varieties of Cannabis, for academic or agricultural research purposes, but it applies only to states where industrial hemp farming is already legal under state law. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) successfully worked to retain and strengthen the hemp research amendment during the Farm Bill conference committee process. The full text of the bill may be found at: www.VoteHemp.com/FarmBill.
"With the U.S. hemp industry estimated at over $500 million in annual retail sales and growing, a change in federal law to allow colleges and universities to grow hemp for research means that we will finally begin to regain the knowledge that unfortunately has been lost over the past fifty years," says Vote Hemp President Eric Steenstra. "This is the first time in American history that industrial hemp has been legally defined by our federal government as distinct from drug varieties of Cannabis. The market opportunities for hemp are incredibly promising-ranging from textiles and health foods to home construction and even automobile manufacturing. This is not just a boon to U.S. farmers, this is a boon to U.S. manufacturing industries as well."
So far in the 2014 legislative season, industrial hemp legislation has been introduced or carried over in thirteen states: Arizona, Hawaii, Indiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Jersey (carried over from 2013), New York, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Washington (two bills carried over from 2013), West Virginia and Wisconsin. The full text of these state hemp bills may be found at: www.VoteHemp.com/state.html#2014.
In addition to the Farm Bill amendment, two standalone industrial hemp bills have been introduced in the 113th Congress so far. H.R. 525, the "Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2013," was introduced in the U.S. House on February 6, 2013, and the companion bill, S. 359, was introduced in the U.S. Senate soon thereafter on February 14, 2013. The bills define industrial hemp, exclude it from the definition of "marihuana" in the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), and give states the exclusive authority to regulate the growing and processing of the crop under state law. If passed, the bills would remove federal restrictions on the domestic cultivation of industrial hemp. The full text of the bills, as well as their status and co-sponsors, can be found at: www.VoteHemp.com/legislation.
To date, thirty-two states have introduced pro-hemp legislation and twenty have passed pro-hemp legislation. Ten states (California, Colorado, Kentucky, Maine, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Vermont, Washington and West Virginia) have passed industrial hemp farming laws and removed barriers to its production. These states will be able to take immediate advantage of the industrial hemp research and pilot program provision, Section 7606, of the Farm Bill. Three states (Hawaii, Kentucky and Maryland) have passed bills creating commissions or authorizing research. Nine states (California, Colorado, Illinois, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Vermont and Virginia) have passed resolutions. Finally, eight states (Arkansas, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota and Vermont) have passed study bills. However, despite state authorization to grow hemp, farmers in those states still risk raids by federal agents, prison time, and property and civil asset forfeiture if they plant the crop, due to the failure of federal policy to distinguish non-drug oilseed and fiber varieties of Cannabis (i.e., industrial hemp) from psychoactive drug varieties (i.e., "marihuana").
# # #
Vote Hemp is a national, single-issue, non-profit organization dedicated to the acceptance of and a free market for low-THC industrial hemp and to changes in current law to allow U.S. farmers to once again grow this agricultural crop. More information about hemp legislation and the crop's many uses may be found at www.VoteHemp.com or www.TheHIA.org. Video footage of hemp farming in other countries is available upon request by contacting Ryan Fletcher at 202-641-0277 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting
202-641-0277 FREE end_of_the_skype_highlighting or ryan@votehemp.com.
END
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Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Farm bill legitimizes hemp after half-century ban
 |
Newest farm cropColorado farmer Ryan Loflin harvests hemp during the state’s first known harvest of the plant in more than 60 years on his farm in Springfield, Colo. The federal farm bill agreement reached last week reverses decades of prohibition for hemp cultivation. (Associated Press/P. Solomon Banda) |
Posted: Friday, January 31, 2014 11:45 pm
DENVER — The federal government is ready to let farmers grow cannabis — at least the kind that can’t get people high. Hemp — marijuana’s non-intoxicating cousin that’s used to make everything from clothing to cooking oil — could soon be cultivated in 10 states under a federal farm bill agreement reached last week that allows the establishment of pilot growing programs.
In 2011, the U.S. imported $11.5 million worth of legal hemp products, up from $1.4 million in 2000. Most of that growth was seen in hemp seed and hemp oil, which finds its way into granola bars and other products.
“This is big,” said Eric Steenstra, president of Vote Hemp, a Washington-based group that advocates for the plant’s legal cultivation. “We’ve been pushing for this a long time.”
Legalized growing of hemp had congressional allies from both ends of the political spectrum. Democrats from marijuana-friendly states have pushed to legalize hemp cultivation, as have Republicans from states where the fibrous plant could be a profitable new crop.
“We are laying the groundwork for a new commodity market for Kentucky farmers,” Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, said in a statement. McConnell was a lead negotiator on the inclusion of hemp in the farm bill.
State departments of agriculture still must designate hemp-cultivation pilot projects for research purposes.
Hemp and marijuana are the same species, Cannabis sativa. Marijuana, however, is cultivated to dramatically increase THC, a psychoactive chemical that exists in trace amounts in hemp.
Hemp was historically used for rope but has hundreds of other uses: clothing, paper, mulch, foods such as hemp milk and cooking oil, creams, soaps and lotions. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew hemp, but centuries later the plant was swept up in anti-drug efforts and growing it without a federal permit was banned in the 1970 Controlled Substances Act.
The last Drug Enforcement Administration hemp permit was issued in 1999 for a quarter-acre experimental plot in Hawaii. That permit expired in 2003.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture last recorded an industrial hemp crop in the late 1950s, down from a 1943 peak of more than 150 million pounds on 146,200 harvested acres.
Farmers interested in hemp say the farm bill agreement is a giant leap toward a viable hemp industry in this country.
Tom McClain, a Colorado hemp activist who helps connect nascent growers with buyers, said the industry won’t get off the ground without more research.
“We don’t have a compendium of information to go to,” McClain said. “We do rely on universities and agricultural research to help us and direct us. We need local research to help drive the correct varieties so that farmers get the best yield.”
Ten states already allow the growing of hemp, though federal drug law has blocked actual cultivation in most. Those states are Colorado, Washington, California, Kentucky, Maine, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Vermont and West Virginia.
Earlier this month, the Colorado Department of Agriculture released licensing procedures for farmers interested in raising hemp.
About a dozen farmers didn’t wait for the state rules and harvested small amounts last year — the nation’s first acknowledged hemp crop in more than five decades.
Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer, a Republican who has championed the hemp movement, predicted the crop’s comeback will become a reality — completing its journey from the political fringe into the mainstream.
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