Says it is a sustainable crop, ‘could be a great economic opportunity for Ky. farmers’
WASHINGTON (Feb. 8, 2013) — Congressman Thomas Massie, R-Ky., introduced federal legislation Wednesday that “requires the federal government to respect state laws allowing the growing of industrial hemp,” his office said in a press release.
H.R. 525, the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2013, amends the Controlled Substances Act to exclude industrial hemp from the definition of marijuana. Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Ky., is a co-sponsor of the bill in the U.S. House. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell are supporting a similar bill in the U.S. Senate.
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“Industrial hemp is a sustainable crop and could be a great economic opportunity for Kentucky farmers,” Massie said. “My wife and I are raising our children on the tobacco and cattle farm where my wife grew up. Tobacco is no longer a viable crop for many of us in Kentucky and we understand how hard it is for a family farm to turn a profit. Industrial hemp will give small farmers another opportunity to succeed.”
On the federal level, Massie is taking the lead in Congress as the original sponsor of industrial hemp legislation. On Monday, Massie will testify before the Kentucky legislature along with other members of Kentucky’s federal delegation and Kentucky’s Commissioner of Agriculture James Comer in support of a related state bill.
Kentucky was a leading producer of the world’s industrial hemp supply during America’s early years as a nation, Massie said. It is used in hundreds of products including paper, lotions, clothing, canvas and rope, and can be converted into renewable bio-fuels more efficiently than corn or switch grass.
Critics of industrial hemp mistakenly equate it to marijuana, Massie said. The plants are cousins in the cannabis family, but industrial hemp “contains very small amounts of the intoxicant (THC) found in marijuana, making it ineffective as a drug,” he said.
Hemp is grown in over 30 western nations including Canada, England and France.
H.R. 525 has 28 original co-sponsors in the House, including House Agriculture Committee ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn. Massie co-sponsored a similar bill in the 112th Congress.
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