New Hampshire HR 20 Full Text
HR 20 — AS INTRODUCED
2012 SESSION
12-2652
08/05
A RESOLUTION urging the federal government to allow the cultivation of hemp for
industrial purposes.
SPONSORS: Rep. Owen, Merr 4
COMMITTEE: Environment and Agriculture
ANALYSIS
This resolution urges the federal government to allow the cultivation of hemp for
industrial purposes.
12-2652
08/05
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twelve
A RESOLUTION urging the federal government to allow the cultivation of hemp for
industrial purposes.
Whereas, industrial hemp refers to the non-drug oilseed and fiber varieties of Cannabis
which have less than three tenths of one percent (0.3%) tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)
and which are cultivated exclusively for fiber, stalk and seed, and are genetically
distinct from drug varieties of cannabis (also known as marihuana); and
Whereas, the flowering tops of industrial hemp cannot produce any drug effect when
smoked or ingested; and
Whereas, Congress never intended to prohibit the production of industrial hemp when
restricting the production, possession, and use of marihuana; the legislative history of
the Marihuana Tax Act where the current federal definition of marihuana first appeared
shows that industrial hemp farmers and manufacturers of industrial hemp products
were assuaged by Federal Bureau of Narcotic Commissioner Harry J. Anslinger who
promised that the proposed legislation bore no threat to them: “They are not only amply
protected under this act, but they can go ahead and raise hemp just as they have always
done it.”; and
Whereas, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in Hemp
Industries v. Drug Enforcement Administration, 357 F.3d 1012 (9th Cir. 2004), that the
federal Controlled Substances Act of 1970 (21 U.S.C. Sec. 812(b)) explicitly excludes
non-psychoactive industrial hemp from the definition of marihuana, and the federal
government declined to appeal that decision; and
Whereas, the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 specifies the find
ings to which the
government must attest in order to classify a substance as a Schedule I drug and those
findings include that the substance has a high potential for abuse, has no accepted
medical use, and has a lack of accepted safety for use, none of which apply to industrial
hemp; and
Whereas Article 28, Section 2, of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961, as
amended by the 1972 Protocol, states that, “This Convention shall not apply to the
cultivation of the cannabis plant exclusively for industrial purposes (fibre and seed) or
horticultural purposes”; and
Whereas, industrial hemp is commercially produced in more than 30 countries,
including Canada, Great Britain, France, Germany, Romania, Australia, and China
without undue restriction or complications; and
Whereas, American companies are forced to import millions of dollars worth of hemp
seed and fiber products annually from Canada, Europe, and China, thereby effectively
denying American farmers an opportunity to compete and share in the profits; and
Whereas, nutritious hemp foods can be found in grocery stores nationwide and strong
durable hemp fibers can be found in the interior parts of millions of American cars; and
Whereas, buildings are being constructed using a hemp and lime mixture, thereby
sequestering carbon; and
Whereas, retail sales of hemp products in this country are estimated to be over $400
million annually; and
Whereas, industrial hemp is a high-value low input crop that is not genetically modified,
requires little or no pesticides, can be dry land farmed, and uses less fertilizer than
wheat and corn; and
Whereas, the reluctance of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration to
permit industrial hemp farming is denying agricultural producers in this country the
ability to benefit from a high-value, low-input crop, which can provide significant
economic benefits to producers and manufacturers; and
Whereas, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration has the authority under
the Controlled Substances Act to allow this state to regulate industrial hemp farming
under existing laws and without requiring individual federal applications and licenses;
now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the house of representatives:
That the house of representatives urges the Congress of the United States to recognize
industrial hemp as a valuable agricultural commodity; to define industrial hemp in
federal law as non-psychoactive and genetically identifiable species of the genus
cannabis; to acknowledge that allowing and encouraging farmers to produce industrial
hemp will improve the balance of trade by promoting domestic sources of industrial
hemp; and to assist United States producers by removing barriers to state regulation of
the commercial production of industrial hemp; and
That the house of representatives also urges the United States Drug Enforcement
Administration to allow the state of New Hampshire to regulate industrial hemp
farming under existing state laws and regulations, or those to be passed, without
requiring federal applications, licenses, or fees; and
That the house clerk forward copies of this resolution to the president of the United
States, the attorney general of the United States, the administrator of the United States
Drug Enforcement Administration, the director of the Office of National Drug Control
Policy, the United States Secretary of Agriculture, and to each member of the New
Hampshire congressional delegation.
