After decades of misinformation, the United States has taken steps to change its outdated laws about industrial hemp, the non-drug variety of the cannabis plant.
Hemp has cheerleaders on both sides of the aisle in Congress. 2018’s Farm Bill made moves to make the cultivation, processing and sale of industrial hemp legal.
Amid the rising demand for hemp products – from protein powder to milk to lotion to fabric – American farmers have been unable to tap into the robust industry.
“It’s left consumers with little choice but to buy imported hemp products from foreign-produced hemp,” said Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, in June as the bill passed the Senate. McConnell introduced the Hemp Farming Act in April, and its provisions to legalize hemp were included in the Farm Bill.
“Legalizing hemp nationwide ends decades of bad policymaking and opens up untold economic opportunity for farmers in Oregon and across the country,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Or.
Federal policy has for decades failed to acknowledge the difference between industrial hemp and the psychoactive varieties of the cannabis plant. Businesses have been allowed to import hemp products since 1998, but farming hemp is still illegal in the United States.
Hemp was grouped with marijuana and heavily taxed under the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937. This put many hemp businesses out of business. Hemp was again grouped with marijuana and classified as a Schedule 1 drug under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. Schedule 1 is for drugs that have high abuse potential and severe safety concerns.
Despite federal law against farming hemp, research into its industrial and medical benefits has made progress. For example, the state of Colorado legalized industrial hemp farming in 2013. The state requires a permit, a registered location, and verification that the crop has low levels of THC, the mind-altering chemical in marijuana. Hemp farmers there still risk raids by federal agents, prison time and loss of their land.
The Farm Bill in 2014 legalized hemp growing for research purposes if it is legal in that state. New York moved in favor of the hemp industry the next year. Cornell University and SUNY Morrisville, Sullivan and Binghamton were among the holders of 10 early permits for researching industrial hemp. The cap was raised in 2017, and now there are 20 licensed partners.
Cornell’s Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva received a $400,000 award from the state to study growing different varieties of hemp in various soil conditions and locations in New York. The state is seeking a permit from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration to import hemp seeds and create a seed distribution site.
New York state officials see the $600 million hemp industry as a way to boost agricultural production. The state’s Industrial Hemp Agricultural Research Pilot Program has worked to expand beyond colleges and universities to allow private entities to study hemp.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo set aside $10 million in support of hemp research, production and processing in this year’s budget.
A thriving hemp industry could boost the incomes of many New York farmers. Hemp was a popular crop in New York and around the United States in the 18th and 19th centuries, when it was mostly used for rope and fiber. Cornell University researchers occasionally find hemp plants in upstate New York fields descended from the crops of Colonial-era farmers.
The now-fledgling hemp industry in New York today is more focused on cannabidiol (CBD). The oil derived from hemp is said to treat opioid addiction, anxiety, sleeplessness and inflammation, although more research on CBD needs to be done. Southern Tier Hemp plans to build a $3.4 million processing plant in Kirkwood for extracting CBD from hemp, and Binghamton University will be one of its research partners.
After years on the wrong side of the law, the hemp industry in the United States has a lot of work to do if it is to catch up to other countries with thriving hemp production. A congressional research report cited the need to re-establish agricultural supply chains, to update equipment and processing, and to breed new varieties of hemp.
Growing hemp is legal in more than 30 countries. According to statistics from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, France leads the word in hemp production, followed by China, Chile and North Korea. China leads the world in exporting hemp paper and textiles. Most of the hemp imported into the U.S. comes from Canada, now the biggest exporter of hemp seeds and seed products like hemp oil, hemp protein powder and the hulled seeds. Hemp production in Europe is more focused on industrial uses like construction.
Written by: Alyce Trelawny Coleman, a journalist with 20 years of experience in New York, Connecticut and throughout the Northeast.
Knock on Hemp LLC in partnership with NAHE Growhouse Research and Development Group. This article is property of Knock on Hemp LLC and is not permitted to be copy written or duplicated without written approval from the company.