Community | August 05, 2009 | 39 comments

Oregon hemp farming bill becomes law

source: http://www.votehemp.com/PR/08-04-09_vh_oregon_hemp_farming_bill_becomes_law.html

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JanforGore

http://www.votehemp.com/PR/08-04-09_vh_oregon_hemp_farming_bill_becom...

Vote Hemp, the leading grassroots advocacy organization working to give back farmers the right to grow industrial hemp (the oilseed and fiber varieties of Cannabis), enthusiastically supports the decision of Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski to sign SB 676 into law today. The bill, which passed the House by a vote of 46 to 11 and the Senate by a vote of 27 to 2, permits the production, trade and possession of industrial hemp commodities and products. With the Governor's signature, it now makes a politically bold commitment to develop hemp in a state whose slogan is "Oregon - We Love Dreamers."

"I am glad that Oregon has joined the other states that have agreed that American farmers should have the right to re-introduce industrial hemp as an agricultural crop," says SB 676 sponsor, Sen. Floyd Prozanski. "By signing SB 676 into law, which passed the Oregon Legislature with strong bi-partisan support, Governor Kulongoski has taken a proactive position allowing our farmers the right to grow industrial hemp, to provide American manufacturers with domestically-grown hemp, and to profit from that effort." The new law sets up a state-regulated program for farmers to grow industrial hemp which is used in a wide variety of products, including nutritious foods, cosmetics, body care, clothing, tree-free paper, auto parts, building materials, fuels and much more. Learn more about hemp at www.VoteHemp.com.

"Oregon's federal delegation can now take this law to the U.S. Congress and call for a fix to this problem, so American companies will no longer need to import hemp and American farmers will no longer be denied a profitable new crop," comments Vote Hemp Director, Patrick Goggin. "Under current federal policy, industrial hemp can be imported, but it cannot be grown by American farmers. Hemp is an environmentally-friendly crop that has not been grown commercially in the U.S. for over fifty years because of a politicized and misguided interpretation of the nation's drug laws by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). While a new federal bill in Congress, HR 1866, is a welcome step, the hemp industry is hopeful that the Obama administration will recognize hemp's myriad benefits to farmers, businesses and the environment," adds Goggin.

Many businesses in Oregon manufacture, market and sell hemp products, including Living Harvest, The Merry Hempsters, Wilderness Poets, Earthbound Creations, Sweetgrass Natural Fibers, Sympatico Clothing, Mama's Herbal Soaps and Hempire. Living Harvest of Portland was recently ranked the third-fastest-growing company in Oregon, as awarded by The Portland Business Journal's "Fastest-Growing Private 100 Companies" annual award. "We are looking forward to the opportunity to invest in hemp processing and production locally," says Hans Fastre, CEO of Living Harvest. "This new law represents another step towards heightening the hemp industry's profile within mainstream America and making hemp products more accessible to businesses and consumers."
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    Community,   Green,   Science,   US Politics,   2 more
  2. tags:
    Economy,  Hemp,  Oregon,  Sustainable Living,  1 more
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39 comments // Oregon hemp farming bill becomes law

  • Michizzle
  • kansasaffron
    • 0
      kansasaffron  

    • Oregon is the 7th state since 1999 to allow farmers to grow industrial hemp, unfortunately it is still not allowed by the federal government.

      excellent video: http://truthalliance.net/Archive/News/tabid/67/ID/3252/Oregon-Hemp-Farming-Bill-...

      State laws can't trump the federal statute, which currently lists cannabis sativa as a controlled substance and prevent its cultivation. But U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, a Libertarian-leaning Republican from Lake Jackson, Texas, is trying to change that. He's filed a bill to require the federal government to respect state laws on industrial hemp production. Paul has tried and failed at this before, and even he thinks the bill isn't likely to pass this time either. But he's gaining some support among his fellow House members and hoping for a friendlier attitude in the White House. excerpt taken from: http://www.fwweekly.com/index.php?Itemid=375&catid=30:cover-story&id=1941:dont-smoke-it&option=com_content&view=article

    • 3 years ago
  • jubal
    • 0
      jubal  

    • The big problem here in Oregon with this bill is that no one can become productive Hemp farmers for at least a year, possibly more. There is no Hemp infrastructure in place. The Department of Agriculture in Oregon has yet to designate seed providers and growers. There are very few places you can get legal seeds.

      Do you realize that the threshold for THC is 0.3%. That is practically nothing. You should download and read the feasibility study done by Oregon State University at this link http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/html/sb/sb681/

      It talks about soils and water need in great detail. But what is amazing is the discussion about the various varieties that have been developed in places like Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, and Russia. They have seed varieties that have been bread to enhance certain aspects of the plant. Some varieties are good for seed and oil production, others are good for bark, while others for fiber. Each has to be planted with a different strategy.

      Did you know that at one time, every major agricultural universities and colleges in the country had their own variety they developed?

      I am sure that Monsanto has a GM variety of Hemp already in the works. God knows what that one will do to us.

      Anyways, my point is that I am pleased with the bill, but we need to get the infrastructure in place. We need factories that can receive the harvested Hemp and process it into sub categories of substances: seed, bark, fiber, oil, and food proteins. Then we need to get the processors on line to begin creating the products that come from the Hemp; textiles, rope, paint, wood products, building products, food products, the list is endless.

      It can be a great economic boom for Oregon. But the first thing is the seeds. Where are we going to get the seeds?

    • 3 years ago
  • SHAWN_RITTIMAN
  • jubal
    • 0
      jubal  
    • jubal:

      Nah ahh, you try going to Canada and bringing seed across the border and see how fast you end up in jail.

      The Oregon bill says that the Department of Agriculture of Oregon must publish a list of LEGAL seed suppliers. We will wait for that list.

      No body I know wants to go to jail being the first growers.

    • 3 years ago
  • SHAWN_RITTIMAN
  • nostress
    • 0
      nostress  

    • If anyone's heard the agricultural subsidies for national defense argument, isn't it fun thinking about hemp as part of it?

    • 3 years ago
  • SHAWN_RITTIMAN
  • biggranny
  • bombastinator
  • biggranny
  • bombastinator
    • 0
      bombastinator  

    • Ummm... this bill just says you can buy hemp based products, it doesn't say you can grow the stuff. So far as I can tell the only people this bill helps live in China.

    • 3 years ago
  • JanforGore
  • biggranny
    • 0
      biggranny  

    • The responses to this article seemed to take on a big brother taketh away attitude. Hemp farmers are not that easily swayed.Are they? Don't move to Oregon. Buy hemp products directly from these farmers.

    • 3 years ago
  • settler
  • settler
    • 0
      settler  

    • why do you guys want to travel to Oregon? Growing and harvesting of hemp is only allowed for industrial purposes -- yet.

    • 3 years ago
  • Armageddon_Now
  • Mobius2012
  • krush_productions
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  
    • settler:

      And that's exactly why I would want to grow it. It isn't just for smoking, and I'm not into that myself. However, the other uses of it primarily as a biofuel, for paper to save trees which will in turn help to mitigate CO 2 levels, and its use for clothes and food as well as its potential to be used with new technologies make it a crop we must make legal in every state in this country if we care about sustaining our environment and our economy.

    • 3 years ago
  • hunzedog
  • Sumbodyswatchin
    • 0
      Sumbodyswatchin  

    • Hooray Oregon! Now the rest of the country still trailing behind needs to join the freakin bandwagon. Ignoring the history of cannabis before 1937 is just ignorant. Get some facts in your brain! Propoganda sucks!

    • 3 years ago
  • futurehempfarmer
  • jkudurog
    • 0
      jkudurog  

    • I agree. Good call. Hemp being illegal just signifies how a population can be misguided in masses (also see salem witch trials, nazi germany). Glad we're taking a step back toward the right path.

    • 3 years ago
  • settler
    • 0
      settler  
    • jkudurog:

      What?! You're really saying if hemp had been legal in Germany during the late 30s and 40s, the spread of misinformation wouldn't have affected the people so dramatically?

      That's bunk!

    • 3 years ago
  • krush_productions
  • settler
  • DeliaTheArtist
    • 0
      DeliaTheArtist  

    • Great! Hemp is so useful in so many ways but has been misrepresented to the public by the DEA and other pushers of the drug war. REALLY glad to see hemp taking back it's rightful place among American farmer's crops!

    • 3 years ago
  • JanforGore
  • trut
  • krush_productions
  • bombastinator
    • 0
      bombastinator  
    • trut:

      well what they will do is breed a better variety of industrial hemp that either produces more or has stronger or better fiber, and then claim a patent on that. You don't like Monsanto don't buy their seed.

      Boycotting Monsanto based products is hard though because seed type is not tracked. That may be solvable though.

    • 3 years ago
  • JanforGore
  • futurehempfarmer
  • artemis6
  • SHAWN_RITTIMAN
  • airinmagoc
  • JanforGore
  • JanforGore
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