HERBKERSMAN WANTS TO STUDY LEGALIZING HEMP

Rep. Bill Herbkersman believes he has found a way to replenish South
Carolina's farming industry, re-establish textile mills and do the
environment some good in the process.

It's just not quite legal yet.

Herbkersman, R-Bluffton, is proposing a committee to study whether
South Carolina should pursue "authorization of the cultivation and
production of industrial hemp."

The challenge, he said, will be to convince lawmakers there's a
significant difference between industrial hemp and its cannabis
cousin, marijuana - and that the potential benefits are worth a deeper look.

Sen. Bill Mescher, R-Pinopolis, has filed a bill to legalize medical
use of marijuana, citing the painful death of his first wife 20 years
ago from cancer.

Hemp is a type of cannabis that is cultivated to maximize the quality
of the plant's seeds and fiber and to limit the amount of THC, the
ingredient that gets marijuana users "high."

Marijuana generally is produced from leafier variations of cannabis
cultivated to maximize their THC content.

The federal Controlled Substances Act, however, doesn't distinguish
between hemp and marijuana: Growing cannabis of any kind requires a
special permit from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

So if the industrial hemp study committee were to decide that farmers
across the state should be able to cultivate the crop, South Carolina
would need to get the DEA's permission.

Other states either are studying the issue or already have acted.
Oregon, for instance, allows hemp farming with a state license.

Herbkersman's resolution is modeled after North Carolina legislation,
approved in August, that established a study committee there.

Herbkersman sees plenty of potential for the industrial hemp crop:

Bolstering the farm-based economy by providing a new crop to offset
tobacco declines.

Reinvigorating the textile industry in the state, creating jobs and
building the economy when South Carolina hemp is used to produce
textiles, paper, rope, building materials, food, medicine, soaps and more.

Improving the environment and reducing dependence on foreign-based
fossil fuels by capitalizing on hemp's potential as a renewable fuel
source. Steven Mardell has been making a living off of hemp for 10
years, selling apparel and other hemp-based items at his Hilton Head
Island store, The Hemp See and High Tide Beads.

It's time for people to re-educate themselves about the United
States' - and South Carolina's - extensive hemp history, Mardell
said. "Just the fact that South Carolina is trying to make a move
toward nature again is huge."

Herbkersman has the support of Rep. Bill Witherspoon, R-Conway, chair
of the Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs committee.

But they have a lot of convincing to do.

"It's not on the radar right now," said David Branham, director of
commodity relations at the South Carolina Farm Bureau.

Among the questions Branham said farmers would have: how South
Carolina would create a storage and distribution system for the new
crop when the state's farming industry is designed now for wheat,
corn and soybeans.

But, if hemp is shown to be a profitable, viable crop, he said,
farmers will be interested.

Herbkersman said the committee also would need to address law
enforcement concerns regarding marijuana smokers using legalized hemp
to cover up or support their illegal drug habit.

But, he said, "that's what study committees do."