GO FOR IT - KENTUCKY NEEDS TO LOOK AT HEMP

Hats off to members of the Kentucky House of Representatives, including
State Rep. R.J. Palmer of Clark County, for passing legislation that could
lead to university research of the economic and agricultural future of hemp,
and perhaps someday to a new source of revenue for Kentucky farmers.

But for all the good industrial hemp could bring, some already are up in
arms because they wrongly equate hemp with marijuana. That's extremely
unfortunate, because while industrial hemp is a cousin to marijuana, it is
chemically different and incapable of being used as a drug. But while no one
would get 'high' by smoking it, industrial hemp could prove to be an
excellent alternative crop for Kentucky's tobacco farmers who continue to
see their top cash crop come under assault from virtually every quarter.

Hemp once was cultivated, not only in Clark County, but in many areas of the
United States for use in the manufacture of rope. Indeed, when this
country's source of hemp from abroad was cut off during World War II,
Americans were encouraged to grow hemp. Industrial hemp continued to be
grown in this country until the 1950s, when it fell into disfavor because
the Federal Bureau of Narcotics wrongly lumped it with marijuana, as the
U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and many others continue to do until this day.

While nearly every country in the world has legalized hemp production, the
United States hasn't, although industrial hemp may be imported and
processed. That means Kentucky farmers and their counterparts across the
country must stand by and watch while farmers in other countries reap the
rewards for growing a crop that could just as easily be grown in the United
States.

At last count, more than 25,000 products could be made from hemp, everything
from rope, cloth, paper, paint and plastics to diesel fuel, particleboard,
beams, posts, even hemp seed oil rich in vitamin-B.

In addition to authorizing university study of the agricultural uses for
industrial hemp, the House measure instructs the Kentucky Department of
Agriculture to 'promote the research and development' of markets for
Kentucky industrial hemp and hemp products and creates the Kentucky
Industrial Hemp Commission to develop recommendations on industrial hemp
legislation and to address law enforcement concerns.

Certainly the concerns of law enforcement agencies must be taken into
consideration. But while there are similarities between hemp and marijuana,
there are some distinct differences, and if other countries can distinguish
between the two, surely its should not be a problem in the United States, a
world leader in technology. Nor is it likely that someone would attempt to
grow marijuana amid hemp plants, because hemp plants are tightly spaced to
maximize stalk development, while marijuana is widely spaced to maximize
flowers and leaves.

Many questions about industrial hemp clearly need to be addressed, and the
House has taken a very important first step toward obtaining those answers.
The measure still must win Senate approval and hopefully the members of that
body also will have the courage to step boldly into the 21st century and
likewise vote to authorize a study of industrial hemp to see if it might be
Kentucky's long-awaited alternative crop to tobacco.