Legislation (SB 67) introduced by Sen. Lloyd Casey (D-Northglenn) to allow Colorado to become the first state to grow industrial hemp in almost 40 years is heading for the Senate floor.
In a move that stunned both proponents and opponents alike, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted 5-4 to send the bill to the full Senate for debate. A similar bill was introduced by Casey in 1995, but only received one vote of support in its first committee.
“We’re talking about not just growing, but about the textile mills, the paper mills, [and] the food-processing products. We’re talking about all the value-added things that can result from this,” explained Casey.
The Colorado Industrial Hemp Production Act permits the planting of no more than 40 acres of industrial hemp (defined by the bill as marijuana containing no more than 0.5% THC) in Colorado in 1996 for agricultural, commercial, and scientific research. The legislation allows for full scale hemp production to begin in 1998 and has been endorsed by the Colorado Farm Bureau, the Colorado State Grange, and the National Federation of Farm Bureaus. The bill has also received support from Hollywood actor and hemp businessman Woody Harrelson.
Working diligently over the past year to gather support for this bill is the Colorado Hemp Initiative Project (CO-HIP), a grassroots organization of activists who have donated their time to volunteer on this campaign. CO-HIP notes that the bill currently has support in the Senate, but is probably three to five votes shy of a majority. Nevertheless, the group remains confident that the bill will pass the Senate and is actively pursuing the help of farm organizations and professional lobbyists to drum up support among legislators.
Colorado’s legislative session ends on May 8, 1996.
For more information on this bill, please contact the office of Senator Lloyd Casey at (303) 866-4865 or CO-HIP at (303) 784-5632. For more information on the value of industrial hemp, please contact either Allen St. Pierre or Paul Armentano of NORML at (202) 483-5500.