SUPPORTERS OF INDUSTRIAL HEMP CONTINUE QUEST FOR ACCEPTANCE

When a bill to study industrial hemp was rejected recently in the
Illinois Legislature, its supporters were left with a conundrum: How
do you study a potential crop if you can't legally grow it?

A meeting of the minds has brought out some possibilities, said state
Rep. Patrick Lawfer, R-Freeport, the sponsor of the bill. He had
watched legislators who originally supported the idea melt under the
heat of Gov. George Ryan's veto.

"There was discussion that maybe there could be some laboratory work
accomplished, and maybe an economic study of industrial hemp," Lawfer
said of a meeting among representatives from Ryan's office, Western
Illinois University, the University of Illinois and Omni Ventures, a
group of farmers from southwestern Illinois.

"It was pointed out that there really hasn't been a study to look at
biomass, to be combusted for energy, in this state. The feeling is
industrial hemp could fit right into that."

Because they have been getting low prices for corn, soybeans and wheat
over the past few years, some farmers hope eventually to grow hemp,
called a value-added crop because farmers can also sell various
products made from it.

The bill would have permitted the University of Illinois to apply for
a federal permit to grow industrial hemp in test plots. WIU would
have, and still could, study law enforcement issues regarding hemp vs.
its botanical cousin, marijuana.

Opponents say legalization of hemp would send a mixed message to
children. In his veto, Ryan agreed with that argument and also said
other studies had shown that markets for hemp are not doing well
economically.

"The governor has taken the position that they can study it without
growing it," said state Sen. Evelyn Bowles, D-Edwardsville, who
sponsored the bill in the Senate. "How you can do that, I don't know.
He lost me on that."

Bowles also disagreed with Ryan's argument about a lack of markets for
hemp products.

"Thirty-seven countries in the world are growing hemp and making
products," she said. "They seem to be thinking it's an economically
viable crop."

In general, hemp has about one-tenth the THC, or drug, content of
marijuana. Lawfer said laboratory experiments could focus on producing
hemp with zero THC. "But on the other hand," he said, "that may or may
not be valuable information because you wouldn't be able to duplicate
outdoor growing conditions."

Lawfer said that university officials did not commit to specific
studies. "It was simply an exchange of ideas, and we didn't ask for
commitments," he said.

Bowles and Lawfer are retiring from the Legislature after the election
in November, but Lawfer does not believe their absence will kill the
issue.

"I think there are members of the General Assembly who are going to
keep this issue on the front burner," he said. "I have no regrets over
what we were able to do."