BILL TO RE-INTRODUCE INDUSTRIAL HEMP TO FARMERS HAS PASSED IN STATE SENATE

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - The re-introduction of industrial hemp to Illinois
farmers has moved one step closer to budding.

The Illinois Senate voted 49-9 last week on a measure to study the
feasibility of industrial hemp production. The bill now advances to the
House for consideration.

Sen. Evelyn Bowles, D-Edwardsville, reiterated that the measure is not an
attempt to increase drug availability.

"This is not about a hallucinogenic drug, this is about industrial hemp,"
she said. "This has nothing to do with medicine and is not in any way an
attempt to legalize any drugs."

Bowles assured her colleagues that her legislation would simply allow the
study of the crop's potential viability at the university level as an
alternative crop.

"Our farmers are struggling to make ends meet and are looking for a crop,"
she said.

The fibers from industrial hemp can be spun and woven into fabric for
clothing, furniture and carpet, while the seeds can be used in everything
from breakfast cereal to animal feed, Bowles explained.

"Hemp production flourished (in Illinois) during World War II," she added.
"We're trying to save the farming interests by sowing the seeds of change."

The bill is SB 1397.