SENATE GIVES HEMP BILL PRELIMINARY OK

Industrial hemp could be grown as an agricultural crop on experimental
or demonstration plots under legislation that the Senate gave
preliminary approval to Monday.

Industrial hemp can be used in the manufacture of paper, yarn, rope,
sacks and other sisal hemp products. Advocates say it could be an
alternative crop for farmers. Under the bill, a farmer would have to
be registered by the state agriculture commissioner to grow industrial
hemp and would have to specify the location of the experimental plot.

Senate Majority Leader Roger Moe, who represents a rural northwestern
Minnesota district, is the bill's sponsor. Moe, DFL-Erskine, said hemp
contains almost no tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, which is what creates
the "high" among marijuana smokers.

The 1998 Legislature approved a bill that would have authorized a
study of the crop, but then-Gov. Arne Carlson vetoed it. The Minnesota
Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) opposed the bill.

This year, Gov. Jesse Ventura favors the legislation. Public Safety
Commissioner Charlie Weaver said the BCA continues to have concerns
about distinguishing between the industrial hemp plant and its cousin,
the marijuana plant.

"I think they're legitimate," he said of the BCA concerns.

Weaver said he and the BCA have similar concerns about legislation
that would permit use of a small amount of marijuana by people with
certain diseases, including cancer, if prescribed by a doctor.

"It's a question of just making sure we don't open the floodgates," he
said.