HEMP HELP - TWO AREA REPUBLICANS ARE AMONG THE BACKERS

Hemp help: Two area Republicans are among the backers of a resolution
calling on Congress to legalize the commercial production of
industrial hemp.

Rep. Eugene Hahn, R-Cambria, and Sen. Dale Schultz, R-Richland Center,
are circulating a draft proposal and seeking co-sponsors for the measure.

Hemp is a variety of marijuana with low amounts of its psychoactive
ingredient, THC. Currently, federal and state drug laws make no
distinction between hemp and marijuana.

It is illegal to grow hemp, but it is legal to import hemp fiber and
sterilized seeds. Hemp imports more than quadrupled between 1996 and
1997.

Hahn and Schultz, as well as Rep. Boyle, contend that hemp's
reintroduction as a commercial crop in the U.S. could benefit farmers
and rural communities and yield profits of up to $600 an acre.