A fresh bi-partisan bill that would remove hemp from the U.S. government’s list of controlled substances has been introduced by James Comer, a Republican congressman from Kentucky. The measure, “The Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2017,” was supported by legislators from leading U.S. hemp state Colorado, and the tobacco states of Virginia and Kentucky.
Rep. Robert Goodlatte, a Virginia Republican, and Colorado Democratic Rep. Jared Polis backed the bill, which would exempt hemp from the definition of marijuana under the U.S. Controlled Substance Act. Hemp stakeholders in the U.S.say the bill would broaden the potential for hemp research at universities and state agriculture departments, and expand commercialization of hemp crops. Get the details here in an overview from Vote Hemp. See the bill itself and some back and forth among bigger hemp brains talking over the pros and cons.
Related stuff. Expanding state productions . . . Oregon’s Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley got an amendment tacked onto the Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations bill he says will also help protect state hemp programs in the “use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of industrial hemp” grown under Farm Bill authorized state pilot programs. . . which continue apace in states across the U.S.
CBD-specific bill. Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.) and Republican Chuck Grassley (Iowa) have introduced the Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act, a bill to support research initiatives. See the bill.
