Charleston,
WV (March 23, 2013)—West Virginia Vice Chair of Agriculture committee Mike Manypenny (D—Taylor,
49) has introduced WV House Bill 3011.
The bill would remove parts of the current state law language which
would enable West Virginia to redeploy the Industrial Hemp Development Act of
1931.
Richard
Nixon placed jurisdiction of Industrial Hemp under the Drug Enforcement
Agency. By law, the DEA can currently issue
certificates to farmers to make it legal to cultivate and take Hemp to full
harvest maturation. HB 3011 would remove the requirement for federal permission
to farm Hemp. HB 3011 currently has 4
cosponsors.
Earlier
in the month, the National Farmers Union made a reclassification to officially
remove Industrial Hemp from the controlled substances listing currently used by
the Federal Government and all subsequent agencies.
Steven
Wilson of the Missouri Hemp Network had this to say about the move from
ManyPenny, “This year we have seen a strong ground movement into industrial hemp. In past years, the bills would be few from agro-centric
states and they would have no cosponsors.
Not only do these bills have cosponsors, but they have support from
local farm groups and national farm organizations. Things have changed. The body politic is coming after us this
time, in the past we normally had to chase them.”
Wilson
also noted that each state seems to be addressing Hemp from different
angles. Some are moving from agriculture
and others are moving from law. Jason
Holsman (D—Kansas City) has sponsored SB 358 in the Missouri senate. It is also a reclassification bill and it has
a hearing scheduled for March 26 in SCR 1.
Asked
why it seems to be happening now, Wilson replied, “With information about food
for weapons, the Doha round and subsidy programs, and the market viability of
hemp in other countries, farmers seem to want results rather than rules. Farm sovereignty is becoming a major issue
not just for states, but also for families. It also seems to be immune from
party affiliation. Hemp is not
activism. It is about economy.”
To contact Jason Holsman: http://www.jrholsman.com/index.php/contact-us
No comments:
Post a Comment