On Friday, April 5th, Governor Steve Beshear of Kentucky stated that he will let Kentucky’s industrial hemp measure become law without his signature. Gov. Beshear had expressed concerns that marijuana growers could hide their illegal growing operations with hemp plants. Despite his concerns, he allowed the measure to become law without his signature and did not veto the legislation.
House and Senate lawmakers passed an amended version of Senate Bill 50, “An Act relating to industrial hemp”, in March during the final hours of the 2013 legislative session. Noting that “public pressure to pass the bill helped achieve the last-minute deal.”
After the bills approval by the state legislature, Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer stated that “by passing this bill, the General Assembly has signaled that Kentucky is serious about restoring industrial hemp production to the commonwealth and doing it in the right way. That will give Kentucky’s congressional delegation more leverage when they seek a federal waiver allowing Kentucky farmers to grow hemp.”
Kentucky is now the ninth state to have passed a law allowing for farmers to cultivate industrial hemp. Hemp cultivation is still prohibited by the federal government, so until the feds alter their current policy, it is unlikely that Kentucky farmers will begin to grow this crop. Of the eight states who previously approved industrial hemp legislation, only Hawaii has received a federal waiver allowing them to grow an acre of hemp for research purposes.
Federal legislation, the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2013, to amend the Controlled Substances Act to exclude industrial hemp from the definition of marijuana is currently pending in the US Senate and House of Representatives and has been sponsored by prominent politicians such as Senators Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell. You can click here to write your federal officials in support of this legislation.
” Gov. Beshear had expressed concerns that marijuana growers could hide their illegal growing operations with hemp plants”
That’s because THC plants will become pollinated by the hemp plants making even the strongest THC plants the same as hemp, Zero THC. Even if the THC plants are miles away.
Link the Farm Bureaux of the 9 states that have legalized industrial hemp if they’re not already. Together they should put pressure to bear on D.C.
Meanwhile,Pennsylvania’s SB528 Regulate Marijuana Act has been assigned to committee. Hopefully, Senator McIlhinney, majority chairman, the one who decides whether or not our bill will ever get a hearing or a vote (or languish in political oblivion) will be swayed by the dire financial straits of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and allow the legislation to progress. The legislature should note well the dire need for revenue and savings, and fashion and orchestrate the passing of it, and this definitely means making sure there are enough votes for it to pass without Governor Corbett’s signature.
hemp cultivation is still prohibited by the federal government…………..really. Ummmmmm….meanwhile,the federal government taxes alcohol and tobacco to the tune of BILLIONS of dollars annually…..hip hip Hooray! Barry Obama is a liar,Barry Obama is a liar,Barry Obama is a liar….
Too early to order a 4-wheeler setup for methinol ?
Marijuana when fully legal will be big but Industrial Hemp will be even BIGGER!
It would seem that for hemp purposes, the plants would be planted close together because you are using the stem of the plant, but for smoking, the plants would be planted further apart. If that’s the case, identifying plants intended for smoking would seem easy. This all seems like they don’t like it but can’t remember why.
@Roy
I agree fully. One can’t help but wonder just how pervasive this kind of ignorance is in politics in general.
@Roy
The hemp spores will pollinate the marijuana girls. The girls will then put energy into developing the seeds instead of putting out more resin to capture any more spores floating by. The resin is what imparts the ‘high’, so the germination degrades the quality of the bud, ie the bud’s not as good, so it’s worth less.
Any seeds produced will be unusable as seed stock, because their genetics are now a cross between the weed and the hemp.
Just curious, since cannabis is becomming more and more on the medical side of living, has there been any studies on the effects of hemp pollen inhalation? Just curious if it will turn out to be another allergy or something that has been missing out of human lives for the past 50+ years…..
As always
thanks for reading
chris
@ johny d – I’m pretty sure marijuana and hemp have been illegal in the US for longer than the Obama presidency. :l
The Democratic governor of Kentucky has reluctantly allowed the industrial hemp legislation supported by Republican senators Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell to stand and become law. The Tea Party supported this while the liberal Kentuckians for the Commonwealth ignored it. Is this libertarian trend now going to be moved by the Tea Party and libertarian Republicans and ignored by the Left in other states in a most ironical shift? Let us know what is going on in your area and tell the Left and the environmentalists to wake the fuck up
In all the land they have one acre in Hawaii?
This is just ludicrous. Now that Obama has signed legislation that basically a federal judge cannot order Monsato to stop growing produce from GMO seeds even if there is evidence of harm, and they also cannot be sued for the damage those products may do…how can he, or any government official that supported that, ever say they are regulating agricultural products based on potential harm.
now they need pot legal for meds.
And maybe one day a fuel source.
Hemp for America.
hemp shmemp. Legalize already. More news more often. Get busy…
Watch the campaign contribution cashbox of the Senator who can kill this thing because the oil companies are a’comin. JPJ
Destroy the system we operate in or continue to keep getting butt fucked with a smile on your face. Better hope for vasoline
” Gov. Beshear had expressed concerns that marijuana growers could hide their illegal growing operations with hemp plants”
That’s because THC plants will become pollinated by the hemp plants making even the strongest THC plants the same as hemp, Zero THC. Even if the THC plants are miles away.
Also If all the marijuana in the state is turned to hemp because of pollination, the police will get no marijuana eradication funds from the state…
will GOV.BESHEAR get off his ass now and pass a 12 plant limet so we the sick people can have and we need pot for are meds.Today MARLAND state made the 20th legal state for pot smokers great job GOV. MARTINO MALLEY at least your smarter than are governer is in ky.WE THE PEOPLE NEED TO VOTE OUT OF OFFICE every LAST PERSON THAT IS AGINST POT.I am dem, but i will vote rep, next ellection if we dont have legal pot laws by next ellection time AND so will lots of other dem,voters in ky.
@ johneyHempseed
Females don’t pollinate.
As better writers have expressed above, the THC grows in unfertilized females hotly desirous of attracting airborne pollen. The downtown interests of Richmond, Virginia taught me this decades ago when I was hitchhiking on an Interstate. A prominent building in the center of town, presumably the HOTel VIRGINia, had some defective lighting so that the name HOT VIRGIN blazed away miles into the distance. Yes, that was even before I learned which cannabis and THC were.
@ Yep : I ehco you…”in all the land they have one acre of Hemp plants growing ?!Hawaii!
hey”dat gonna make alot Hemp Seed Oil…”not”!
The government’s prohibition growing Hemp Seeds+Oil;Leavees;Fiber; etc.interferes with my pursuit “being a healthy Vegetarian becuz I get my hempseed from Canada(ManitobaHarvest!
I should be able to grown HempSeed and Leaf!!
This will never Happen, The oil companies will not allow it. Once it is discovered that hemp can be refind and used in place of Gasoline, like Henry Ford did in 1905 prior to John D. Rockerfellar, persuadeing him to change from hemp, by investing in his company
after Thams Edison came on line with electricity. prior to the lite came from kerosene, which was the number on use of crude oil. read, The Prize, by Daniel Yergin, we been getting screwed for over 100 years.
We need to get the fed level to change their laws .Then the states will follow in legalizing marijuana.In the 30’s when proabition legalized alcohol,the federal government decided that marijuana needed to be illeagel, just because people turn to it when there alcohol was illeagel. so ,we the people have to fight just to have our rights back. It use to be just herbal medicine.
I watched a video on The Dr. Bronner Hemp Seed and Coocnut Oils Soaps website; one of Dr. Bronner’s relatives went to D.C. and brought some hempseeds and a hand-held Seed Oil press; Bronner pressed Hemp Seeds to Oil near the White House; Bronner was “arrested!!!
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2012/jun/15/bronner-brings-hemp-white-houae
like Bronner I too pay extra canadian Hemp- Seedoil I would rather buy us hempseed oil
Zella: You have it backwards, the federal government didn’t roll back prohibition until 22 states had pasted state level laws legalizing alcohol. We don;t win this battle by changing the feds but by changing the states as is already happening, just focus on changing your state and the rest will follow.
I agree with JohneyHempseed , industrialized hemp would virtually ruin any good marijuana via open pollinization !! This would be bad for outdoor growers ! Everything good would have to be grown indoors and then your still not 100% if you want to have a window open on a hot day !!!
Hemp and marijuana look nothing alike as mature plats. my family is associated with medical marijuana in colorado, ive seen both and can tell the difference without my glasses on. Hemp will not polinate marijuana, if anything it can contaminate the marijuana to where it will not bud, it will still flower but no bud and the bud is what the pot smokers smoke. The truth behind this is they want McConnell out so anything he is for, they are against. Beshear publically stated he wanted McConnell out because he can’t bribe him with a little office like he has anyone else that calls him on his bs. you want hemp, voting Beshear out of office is the only way you will get it because he may not be on record for or against but his mouth is running to those that matter.
This is going to prove to be huge for the state of Kentucky.