Kentucky Industrial Hemp Legislation Becomes Law Without Governor’s Signature

[jct74]

Kentucky Industrial Hemp Legislation Becomes Law Without Governor’s Signature

good news but it doesn't mean hemp can be grown in Kentucky yet, battle now shifts to federal front where Rand and Thomas are definitely going to be pushing this and maybe can get some help from Mitch too, we'll see how it turns out.

Kentucky Industrial Hemp Legislation Becomes Law Without Governor’s Signature

by Erik Altieri, NORML Communications Director
April 5, 2013

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.

http://blog.norml.org/2013/04/05/ke...tion-becomes-law-without-governors-signature/

 

[CaseyJones]

woot now to get H.R.525 & S.359 The Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2013 passed federally!

 

[Christian Liberty]

Gov. Beshear had expressed concerns that marijuana growers could hide their illegal growing operations with hemp plants

Why the crap is this a concern of any kind?

Gov. Beshear is an idiot...

 

[jct74]

let's see if good ol' Mitch actually lives up to his word on this, now is where we could use his help


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CS1Erf6rdc

 

[Brett85]

What are the chances that the federal bill will receive a hearing in committee?

 

[CaseyJones]

What are the chances that the federal bill will receive a hearing in committee?

it would increase exponentially with the number of cosponsors

 

[torchbearer]

woot

 

[camp_steveo]

Why hasn't President Obama done anything to change this yet?

/sarcasm

 

[CaseyJones]

Why hasn't President Obama done anything to change this yet?

/sarcasm

others are wondering that as well

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?410220-Obama-Wants-More-Green-Jobs-Let-s-Start-with-Hemp

 

[jct74]

Kentucky hemp supporters seek next victory in Washington

by Joseph Gerth
Apr. 5, 2013 4:22 PM

Gov. Steve Beshear will allow legislation permitting hemp production in Kentucky to become law without his signature, and now supporters of the measure say they plan to turn their attention toward Washington in hopes of knocking down federal barriers to the crop.

The bill will officially become law at the end of the day Saturday but will have no real effect until the federal government takes action to declassify hemp as an illegal drug or to grant Kentucky a waiver that would allow people to start growing the plant, which is native to Kentucky.

“We’re going to be figuring out a strategy about going to Washington and trying to get a waiver or trying to get them to lift the ban,” said state Rep. Paul Hornback, the primary sponsor of the bill.

Agriculture Commissioner James Comer, of Tompkinsville, a key proponent of the legislation, said he plans to talk next week with U.S. Sen. Rand Paul and U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth about how to move forward to obtain federal permission to grow the crop. “I hope farmers can start putting seeds in the ground next spring.”

...

Hornback hopes to arrange meetings with people from the White House, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and hemp processors to demonstrate how the state would license hemp farmers and conduct tests to make sure they are growing hemp and not marijuana, which looks identical to the industrial plant.

...

Paul and Yarmuth have promised to work together in an effort to get a waiver for Kentucky that would allow hemp production to begin when the framework set out by the new law is in place.

Massie, a Lewis County Republican, has already filed a bill that would nullify the federal prohibition of hemp in states that have laws allowing it.

...

read more:
http://www.courier-journal.com/arti...-hemp-supporters-seek-next-victory-Washington

 

[andrew1229649]

Common sense is becoming.....common.

 

[itshappening]

If Yarmuth is on board and he is then I do not see any impediment to something happening by the end of the year. He's the last remaining Democrat at federal level in Kentucky and Chandler just got whipped even after re-districting so if he tells his masters that he needs this then they will deliver and that means Reid and Obama on board.

 

[Lucille]

The DEA Refused to Discuss a Hemp Waiver With Kentucky's Agricultural Commissioner
http://reason.com/blog/2013/05/09/kentuckys-ag-commish-comes-to-dc-to-talk

Kentucky Agricultural Commissioner James Comer met with some powerful people in D.C. yesterday: a White House staffer, members of the Department of Agriculture and the EPA, and House Speaker Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio). The reason for his visit is the hemp commission his state created earlier this year. To get it off the ground, Kentucky will need a federal waiver exempting it from the Controlled Substances Act's prohibition of domestic hemp farming.

Wouldn't you know it, the Drug Enforcement Administration reportedly wouldn't give Comer the time of day:

Comer said the DEA told him they didn’t “meet with third parties,” and wouldn’t have met with the state’s Democratic governor, Steve Beshear, either. Comer chalked the decision up to the DEA protecting their turf — and their cash.

“I know there’s a lot of money appropriated for marijuana eradication,” he said.

Not only does the DEA receive ungodly amounts of money to eradicate ditchweed, its also been historically opposed to disguingishing between hemp and marijuana...