LEGISLATURE AGAIN SENDS RYAN BILL ON HEMP

SPRINGFIELD, Ill - For the second time this year, the Illinois Legislature
has sent Gov. George Ryan a measure to allow the study of industrial hemp
as a potential cash crop for Illinois.

And, for the second time, the anti-drug lobby will attempt to convince Ryan
that signing the bill would send a soft-on-drugs message to Illinois' youth.

The fibrous stalk from hemp can be used to make clothing, rope and other
materials. But it is illegal to grow in Illinois because it contains the
same hallucinogen as marijuana, though in smaller amounts.

Ryan in February vetoed a bill that would have launched a study by Southern
Illinois University at Carbondale and the University of Illinois into the
viability of allowing Illinois farmers to grow hemp.

Ryan objected to the price tag for the study -- almost $1 million in state
funds -- and said it would send "a mixed message" to the state's youth.

The Illinois Senate on Thursday gave final approval to a new, similar
measure, but one that wouldn't use any state funds for the study.

The new measure also cuts Southern Illinois University out of the study,
assigns Western Illinois University to study the law enforcement impact of
commercial hemp, and sets a goal of coming up with a form of hemp that
contains no hallucinogens.

State Sen. Evelyn Bowles, D-Edwardsville, a co-sponsor of the bill, told
her colleagues that finding a new crop is crucial to struggling Illinois
farmers. She stressed that the bill would only authorize a study of the
issue, and wouldn't allow widespread cultivation of hemp.

"Where would we be if every time something new was presented, that we shut
our ears and our eyes and turned off our brains and said no?" Bowles asked.

State Sen. Peter Roskam, R-Glen Ellyn, who voted in favor of the previous
hemp bill, said he was going to oppose this one because he received letters
of support "from folks in favor of marijuana legalization."

"This is an initiative that, in my view, is going to have a ripple effect
all across our culture," Roskam said.

Bowles told the Senate that the latest bill addresses Ryan's concerns from
his previous veto. Instead of state dollars, for example, the study would
rely on federal and private sources for its funding.

"They didn't address the mixed message that this sends to kids," countered
Jean Lowe, spokeswoman for the Illinois Drug Education Alliance. She said
the group, which led the opposition to the previous bill, will try to
persuade Ryan to veto this one.

A spokesman for Ryan's office declined to speculate on whether Ryan would
sign the bill.

The bill is HB3377.