Lexington, KY - Once again, lawmakers in Kentucky have introduced legislation that could lead to the production of industrial hemp, something that has been tried many times to no avail.
State Rep. Richard Henderson of Montgomery County is the primary sponsor of the House bill this go around. He said the time has come for Kentucky to again take advantage of a crop that has so much potential — not just for farmers but for manufacturers of hundreds of products that can be produced with industrial hemp.
“Kentucky led the nation in its production in the 1800s, and there is no reason to believe we couldn’t do the same again if my bill becomes law,” he said.
Industrial hemp has proven diverse in its applications, including paper and clothing products and renewable energy fuel. During World War II, hemp was grown to produce rope. In fact, a 1942 film produced by the USDA encouraged U.S. farmers to grow the plant to support the war effort.
Henderson has had plenty of support for this year’s bill with several co-sponsors signing on along with former representative and Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer.
Sen. Joey Pendleton of Hopkinsville, Ky., has introduced nearly identical legislation in the past and again initiated the bill on the Senate side this year.
Henderson and Pendleton recently testified in an informational discussion in front of the House Agriculture and Business Committee.
Henderson told the committee numerous surveys have shown 70 percent of people favor the legalization of industrial hemp.
“Seventy percent of the general public, according to several different polls, favor the legalization of industrial hemp,” he said.
Pendleton quoted a study conducted by the University of Kentucky as to the economic impact growing hemp would have on the state.
“It would create about 17,000 jobs with an economic impact of $400 million to $500 million to the commonwealth of Kentucky,” he said.
The argument by lawmakers is not new. In the 1990s, a Kentucky Industrial Hemp Commission was established to study the matter. Under Henderson’s current proposal, that commission would be headed by the state’s ag commissioner. It would also require farmers to undergo a background check and apply to be eligible to grow the plant.
Henderson said the biggest obstacle in making this proposal law is people confusing the plant with marijuana.
“This is a very controversial issue, and I think that is for two reasons. The first is the stigmatism it would have in association with marijuana. Being successful with hemp legislation and making it law would [mean] educating people about what it does and doesn’t do, including the general public, police agencies and the General Assembly,” he said.
Secondly, Henderson said resistance may come from the textile and paper industries, which make some of the same products that can be made with hemp. But he feels there would be a big economical benefit to raising the crop and Kentucky could lead the charge.
At least 20 states have already either passed legislation or are considering making industrial hemp legal. But even with that, the federal government has outlawed its production, and any legislation adopted by any state would have to await a reversal by the feds to implement any production of the plant.
A lingering fear of legalizing hemp, especially from law enforcement, would be that marijuana growers might try to masquerade illegal plants with legal hemp plants. Henderson said in every study he knows about, cultivating the two plants side by side lowers the amount of THC in marijuana (THC is the ingredient in marijuana that produces the “high”), thus making it worthless to drug dealers and users. Hemp contains so little THC that it could not be used as a recreational drug.
Henderson believes it might be possible to slow the production or even eradicate marijuana in this way. Incidentally, Kentucky has long been near the top of the list in marijuana-producing states.
Law-enforcement officials have yet to buy into that argument and have consistently opposed the bills both current and past. It would ultimately become the responsibility of local law officials to keep the bad guys out of the hemp patch, at a time when budgets are lean and personnel short in some areas.
Jerry Wagner, the executive director of the Kentucky Sheriff’s Association, said it would be an ongoing task to make sure marijuana growers wouldn’t try to hide their crop in legal hemp fields. It would be an agricultural nightmare, he said.
“I’m not going to say that it is something we would totally rule out, but for the reasons known to us now, obviously we are not supportive of this law,” he said.
Henderson said it will be an uphill battle, but he remains cautiously optimistic. He also said he has taken “some blows” over his support for the bill but remains passionate about it and noted that as long as he is in Frankfort, he will continue to argue for the legalization of industrial hemp.