Industrial hemp in Oregon: U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer urges Oregon to be national leader on hemp from OregonLive Oregon should be a national leader in industrial hemp production, which can fuel economic development in rural communities, inspire entrepreneurs and meet rising consumer demand, U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer said Saturday. I think the stakes are high for Oregon, Blumenauer told a group of industrial hemp supporters at a forum he organized in Portland Saturday. The Portland Democrat, an outspoken advocate of industrial hemp, said momentum is building for the crop in Oregon and in other states. He pointed to a letter he received on Friday from Oregons U.S. attorney, Amanda Marshall, as a positive step for hemp production in the state. In the letter, Marshall did not explicitly sign off on hemp production, but she wrote that the federal government expects states that legalize cannabis for industrial or medical purposes will establish and enforce strict regulatory schemes that protect the federal governments priorities when it comes to marijuana. She said federal officials expect states to create tough rules and to fund enforcement. These schemes must be tough in practice, not just on paper, she wrote. They must include strong, state based-enforcement efforts backed by adequate funding. We will take a trust but verify approach. In other words, Marshall wrote, as long as the state follows through in imposing strict controls regulating marijuana-related conduct, it is less likely that any of the departments eight enforcement priorities will be threatened and federal action will be less necessary. Blumenauer said the letter further clarifies the federal governments take on hemp. It is common sense, he said. If the federal government doesnt plan to pursue legal or medical marijuana, then you would certainly not be going after hemp. Eric Steenstra, executive director of the Hemp Industries Association in Washington, D.C., told Saturdays gathering of about 50 people that Marshalls letter is a major development. This is the first U.S. attorney to make a public statement on this, he said. This is huge. This opens the door for the (Oregon) Department of Agriculture and other officials in the state to say now we have clear guidance for how to make this work. Other speakers at Saturdays forum included a representative from the Oregon Department of Agriculture, a prospective hemp farmer who grows wheat in Dufur and a Whole Foods executive, who told the group that the grocery chain has seen 25 percent annual growth in sales of hemp products, from burgers to soap. Russ Karow, a crop and soil scientist at Oregon State University, told the gathering of enthusiastic hemp supporters to have realistic expectations. Oregons climate, irrigation demands and the economics of farming will factor into farmers decisions about whether to farm hemp, he said. Places like Hermiston and Ontario offer ideal climate for hemp plants, but Karow said farmers would need to know more about the crops value and use before exploring it. They are going to look at the production economics of that, he said. Do I put my water on sweet corn or green beans, which are high value crops, versus hemp? Oregon officials this week said they are investigating industrial hemp rules in Canada, North Dakota and Colorado and are in the process of drafting rules for the state. Agriculture officials hope to have rules in place for the possibility of a spring planting. Oregon is one of 10 state that have defined industrial hemp and removed barriers to its production. Oregon agriculture officials have held off implementing the states 2009 law, saying they would wait until the federal government reclassified marijuana from a substance prone to abuse and lacking medicinal value. The federal government in August said it would not challenge marijuana legalization laws in Colorado and Washington, a decision that invigorated the hemp movement. Federal law makes no distinction between marijuana and its non-intoxicating relative, hemp. Countries that allow hemp production today sanction a select list of well-established strains that have been bred to have exceptionally low tetrahydrocannabinol, marijuanas psychoactive property. Canada and European countries cap hemps THC level at less than .3 percent. Read here: oregonlive/politics/index.ssf/2013/11/industrial_hemp_in_oregon_us_r.html
Posted on: Sun, 10 Nov 2013 20:51:03 +0000
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