Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2007

Posted on February 14, 2007 by Pete Guither

Representative Ron Paul (R-TX) has introduced (again) an industrial hemp farming bill. The bill is co-sponsored by Representatives Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Barney Frank (D-MA), Raþl Grijalva (D-AZ), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), Jim McDermott (D-WA), George Miller (D-CA), Pete Stark (D-CA) and Lynn Woolsey (D-CA)

“It is indefensible that the United States government prevents American farmers from growing this crop. The prohibition subsidizes farmers in countries from Canada to Romania by eliminating American competition and encourages jobs in industries such as food, auto parts and clothing that utilize industrial hemp to be located overseas instead of in the United States,” said Dr. Paul. “By passing the Industrial Hemp Farming Act the House of Representatives can help American farmers and reduce the trade deficit Ö all without spending a single taxpayer dollar.”

Indefensible is right. And yet, this bill has an extraordinarily low chance of passing, because most of Congress is too scared to do anything right if it could even be perceived as having a connection to drugs (although I’d love to be proved wrong).

[Thanks, DdC]

It’s actually a very simple and straightforward bill. It essentially amends the Controlled Substances Act to add the following:

(B) The term ‘marihuana’ does not include industrial hemp. As used in the preceding sentence, the term ‘industrial hemp‰ means the plant Cannabis sativa L. and any part of such plant, whether growing or not, with a delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration that does not exceed 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis. …
(i) INDUSTRIAL HEMP DETERMINATION TO BE MADE BY STATES.ÖIn any criminal action, civil action, or administrative proceeding, a State regulating the growing and processing of industrial hemp under State law shall have exclusive authority to determine whether any such plant meets the concentration limitation set forth in subparagraph (B) … and such determination shall be conclusive and binding.

How can you vote against that?

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