Posted February 2, 2015
A House panel
passed legislation that would allow industrial hemp to be grown in Virginia,
according to a Richmond Times Dispatch article available here.
Go Dan River also published an article available here
and WVTF here.
“If you
look at the potential economic advantages that industrial hemp would provide
for the state, particularly the Southside and the Southwest, it could be an
economic boon in terms of the amount of research we could do on it,” said Del.
Joseph R. Yost, R-Giles, the measure’s sponsor.
House Bill
1277, which passed by a 13-7 vote, would direct the state Department of
Agriculture and Consumer Services to establish an industrial hemp research
program and relevant regulations in the commonwealth.
Last year,
the Farm Bill allowed universities and state Departments of Agriculture
to grow hemp for research purposes, according to Go
Dan River.
“One acre
of industrial hemp produces the same amount of paper pulp that 4 acres of
forest does. Industrial hemp production would create jobs and economic
development, particularly in rural areas in Virginia. Should federal
regulations allow for commercial production in the future, this bill would
ensure that we are ready to move forward in Virginia,” said Yost.
Bryan
Porter, commonwealth’s attorney in Alexandria, said the Virginia Association of
Commonwealth’s Attorneys does not oppose the aims of the bill but is concerned
with its impact on law enforcement agencies, according to Richmond
Times Dispatch.
“The way
industrial hemp is designed in the bill, it refers to a particular level of THC
and says that anyone who is a licensed grower and possesses industrial hemp
cannot be prosecuted for the possession of marijuana,” said Porter.
“Prosecutors
are concerned that this might have an effect on the backdoor unintended
consequence of legalizing marijuana.”
Tetrahydrocannabinol,
commonly referred to as THC, is the psychoactive component of marijuana and
hemp. Under federal law, industrial hemp in the U.S. cannot contain a THC
amount higher than 0.3 percent. The average THC concentration in recreational
marijuana for is 5 percent or higher.
“You don’t
get high from industrial hemp,” said Yost.
Jim
Politus is a former farmer and member of the Montgomery County Board of
Supervisors, according to WVTF.
“When you
compare hemp to cotton you have about 2 and a-half times the yield, half the
water needs, no pesticides, so that will help areas like Danville,” said
Politus.
The bill is
sponsored by Pearisburg delegate Joseph Yost, and if passed, would allow hemp research
by State Universities such as Virginia Tech and Virginia State University
possibly by 2016.
For more information, a recent report on hemp as an
agricultural commodity from the Congressional Research Service is available on
the National Agricultural Law Center's website
here.
