Oregon politicians are, and have been for awhile now, at the forefront of recreational marijuana, medical marijuana, and hemp law reform. That was continued this last week when both of Oregon’s United States Senators, Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, teamed up with Kentucky Senator Rand Paul to reintroduce a hemp cultivation bill. Per Biz Journals:
The Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2015 “would remove hemp from the Schedule I controlled substance list under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, and would define it as a non-drug so long as it contained less than 0.3 percent tetrahydrocannabinol,” according to the lawmakers.
Oregon, Kentucky and 18 other states have already defined industrial hemp as distinct from marijuana and removed barriers to production. Farmers must currently seek a Drug Enforcement Administration waiver to produce hemp for research purposes.
“The U.S. ban on hemp farming is an outrageous restriction on free enterprise and does nothing but hurt economic growth and job creation,” Wyden said in a release.
“Allowing farmers throughout our nation to cultivate industrial hemp and benefit from its many uses will boost our economy and bring much-needed jobs to the agriculture industry,” added Paul.
Hemp is harmless, and can be used to make all kinds of needed, useful things. The fact that there are laws that prohibit hemp cultivation is a slap in the face to logic. There have been some enforcement related memos from the federal government, and hemp is being grown in parts of America as a result, but there needs to be comprehensive reform to legalize hemp cultivation once and for all. You cannot get high from consuming hemp, and you cannot ‘hide marijuana plants in hemp’ like opponents claim. Cross pollination will ruin the marijuana, which is a very well known fact.
