Washington
D.C. (May 19, 2013)—Senate Bill 358 was the Hemp Farming Bill for Missouri and
as Jason Holsman and Brian Nieves failed to get the bill a floor vote, the
actions of better men are prevailing elsewhere.
The
federal farm bill is currently being worked in the U.S. senate. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) has introduced an amendment to the farm bill
that would allow hemp to be cultivated in America. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Michigan) is floor
managing this farm bill and Wyden has made it clear he intends on addressing
her on the matter of Hemp. Wyden said, “I
adopted what I think is a modest position, which is if you can buy it at a
store in Oregon, our farmers ought to be able to make some money growing it.”
The
amendment is cosponsored by Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon), Senator Rand Paul
(R-Kentucky), and Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky).
Senate
procedures have made this a difficult move.
Because the DEA have jurisdiction over Hemp due to its scheduling as a
narcotic, the legislative has gone into Judiciary rather than agriculture which
means lawyers are farming instead of farmers.
Several
states have passed law to license Hemp farming which include; Colorado, North
Dakota, Maine, Montana, Washington, Oregon, Vermont, and West Virginia. The main issue has been getting the Federal
Government to certify the farming of Hemp.
Steven
Wilson of the Missouri Hemp Network had this to say about the amendment, “The
votes are important, but the logistics of farming is where this can go horribly
wrong. It won’t matter if the votes are
there for the states, you are not going to get one farmer to risk their land or
life for Hemp without protection from punishment.”
Wilson
added, “It is common sense to farm Hemp, but it is also business too. These politicians need to keep in mind that
we can’t live in chamber”.
To
find out more please contact Steven Wilson at: 573-416-0075
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