BOWLES VOWS TO OVERRIDE VETO ON HEMP BILL

EDWARDSVILLE -- State Sen. Evelyn Bowles vowed Saturday to fight for an
override of Gov. George Ryan's veto of a bill she sponsored that would have
allowed a study of industrial hemp's potential as a crop for Illinois
farmers. Ryan announced Friday he had vetoed the legislation, arguing that
other studies have settled the issue. "To put it mildly, I'm very
disappointed," said Bowles, D-Edwardsville.

"I was not aware of any of these studies that were going to be done in the
direction that we were looking, with the potential of developing an
industrial hemp plant minus any THC," Bowles said. THC is the psychoactive
ingredient in the marijuana plant, a close relative of the hemp plant.
Supporters of developing an industrial hemp plant have said that the tiny
amount of THC in traditional hemp plants is too small for it to be smoked
for a "high."

The bill had called for a five-year study of hemp's potential as a cash crop.

"We were not going to be using state funds," Bowles said. "We were
soliciting funds from various industries and business outlets that are
interested in pursuing this hemp study."

The hemp bill would have allowed the University of Illinois to grow the
plant and study whether it could be raised profitably in the state.
Meanwhile, Western Illinois University would have studied law enforcement
issues raised by growing hemp.

Ryan said he vetoed the bill because other studies have convinced him that
hemp would not be a successful crop. The move to grow hemp also "plays into
the national strategy of groups seeking to remove existing criminal
penalties for cannabis/marijuana," he said.

The Republican governor vetoed a similar bill, also sponsored by Bowles,
earlier this year. The second version tried to address his concerns by
studying law enforcement concerns and looking for ways to grow hemp with
none of the mind-altering chemical found in marijuana.

Bowles said she would do "everything I can to work for an override.

"I feel that we need to do this study," she said. "Why continue to not
know? That bothers me, to not want to know. I want to know things."

Bowles, who sponsored the bill in the Illinois Senate, said she would talk
with its sponsor in the state House, state Rep. Ron Lawfer, R- Stockton,
about organizing a veto override effort.

"We'll have to get our act together when we come back to Springfield for
the veto session," she said.

Bowles said she believed that if all the lawmakers who voted in favor of
the bill this year joined the veto override effort, it would succeed.

"If we can hold those people and maybe even garner a few extras, I think we
can do it," she said. The bill would require approval by a three-fifths
majority in both the House and Senate to override Ryan's veto.

Bowles said she didn't know whether Ryan's veto might have something to do
with his possible plans to seek re-election. Ryan has said he will announce
soon whether he intends to seek a second term in 2002.

"I think that (Ryan) feels that it's possibly a pretty hot issue," Bowles said.

Bowles said she felt compelled to try for the veto override.

"It's something that I've worked on so hard for so long," she said. "I've
come at it from every direction I know to try to satisfy the questions.
We'll see what happens."

The Associated Press contributed some information for this article.