FRANKFORT, Ky. (WHAS11) -- The push to legalize hemp farming in Kentucky is getting a major boost with a bipartisan effort in Frankfort.
Two Democratic lawmakers are joining forces with the newly elected Republican Agriculture Commissioner James Comer to overcome hemp's long-perpetuated but erroneous relatedness to marijuana.
“The time has come for Kentucky to again take advantage of a crop that has so much potential not just for our farmers, but for manufacturers of hundreds of products that industrial hemp can make,” said Rep. Richard Henderson, D-Jeffersonville at a Capitol Rotunda news conference. “Kentucky led the nation in its production in the 1800s, and there is every reason to believe we could do the same again if my bill becomes law.”
For generations, hemp was a celebrated part of both Kentucky's and the United States' economy. A 1942 newsreel film produced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture encourages "Hemp for Victory" as part of the war effort.
Though industrial hemp contains only trace amounts of the active drug ingredient of marijuana, it's still part of a 70 year old federal ban.
Supporters say farmers are missing out on too many economic opportunities -- and that people need to understand the difference between hemp and marijuana.
"(The bill) is a really unique opportunity because we can create jobs, we can diversify our agriculture community and we can educate the people," Henderson said.
In addition to changing Kentucky law, Kentucky would also need a federal permit to allow legal hemp farming.
"With the hemp, you use the whole plant," Rep. Keith Hall (D-Phelps) said. Hall is a primary co-sponsor of the industrial hemp bill, driven by hemp's potential uses as an alternative to corn for ethanol production.
"It produces so much better high grade alcohol," Hall said. "And when you have a blending problem with bio-diesel and bio-fuels and it's really thick, you don't have that problem with the hemp."
Past attempts to legalize hemp farming in Kentucky have failed.
In 1997, Kentucky became the epicenter of the debate when actor and activist Woody Harrelson was arrested for planting hemp seeds at a Lee County farm.
"Are we going to let the government propaganda machine make us so paranoid about drugs that the environment and the economy and the farmers lose out on a fiber crop that is grown in 29 other countries," Harrelson asked at a 1997 Louisville Forum debate.
This time, the effort has Kentucky's new agriculture commissioner behind it.
"You buy products everyday made from industrial hemp," Comer said. "We can do that in Kentucky. Our climate is perfect for that crop and it's a great alternative to tobacco."
Every other developed nation cultivates industrial hemp as an economic crop. It's used to make paper, clothing and cosmetics. But concerns linger here that hemp would be used to hide marijuana crops because the plants look so similar.
"They would cross-pollinate and that would ruin the marijuana," Comer explained. "So, industrial help would help alleviate the marijuana problem we have in Kentucky."
Kentucky's hemp roots include statesman Henry Clay whose farming and experimentation earned him renown. The question is will the lawmakers of today embrace hemp as a way of life in the Bluegrass?
