Sacramento, CA: California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) has vetoed bi-partisan legislation that would have defined industrial hemp as an “agricultural field crop” and established statewide regulations governing its cultivation by authorized farmers.
As approved by the legislature, Assembly Bill 684 would have instituted a pilot program permitting farmers to cultivate hemp in four California counties: Imperial, Kings, Mendocino, and Yolo. Farmers would have been required by law to submit random samples of their plants to an authorized laboratory to assure that their crop did not contain THC potencies greater than 0.3 percent.
“Under federal law, all cannabis plants, regardless of variety or THC content, are simply considered to be ‘marijuana,’ which is a federally regulated controlled substance,” Schwarzenegger stated in his veto message. He speculated that farmers who failed to obtain federal permits to grow hemp could face federal prosecution – regardless of state law.
It is the second year in a row that the Governor has vetoed such legislation.
Industrial hemp is currently grown commercially in Canada and in the European Union for its fiber content. According to a 2005 Congressional Research Service (CRS) report, the United States is the only developed nation that fails to cultivate the plant as an economic crop.
For more information, please contact Dale Gieringer, California NORML Coordinator, at (415) 563-5858 or visit: http://www.votehemp.org.