SENATE GIVES PRELIMINARY APPROVAL TO LEGALIZED HEMP PRODUCTION

ST. PAUL -- Legalized hemp production by Minnesota farmers won preliminary
approval in the state Senate on Monday.

The bill would require hemp farmers to register and check in annually with
the state and federal government and to disclose the names of the buyers or
distributors of the crop.

Growing hemp, a cousin to marijuana, is illegal in Minnesota but permitted
in Canada.

Senate Majority Leader Roger Moe, DFL-Erskine, said that unlike marijuana,
industrial hemp contains virtually no tetrahydrocannabinol, known as THC.
That is what makes marijuana a potent plant for those who smoke its leaves
and buds.

``You'd get sick if you smoked (hemp) before you'd ever get high,'' said
Moe, who sponsored the bill this year and last.

Moe said hemp would be a good crop because it is used in a variety of
products from fertilizer to carpet, cosmetics and car dashboards. Moe said
hemp is grown in 22 countries, and more than 210 companies worldwide use it
in products.

``Industrial hemp should be considered an alternative crop. It's certainly
not going to replace the mainstays of agriculture,'' Moe said.

Two farmers in the Senate backed the bill.

Sen. Kenric Scheevel, R-Preston, said hemp is ``even more versatile than
soybeans.''

``I've been pleasantly surprised with the amount of support in the
agriculture industry,'' Scheevel said.

Last year, Gov. Arne Carlson vetoed a bill to allow experimental hemp
growth. He said the plant would create problems for law enforcement
officials because it is impossible to distinguish hemp from illegal
marijuana plants.

But Sen. Charlie Berg, an independent and farmer from Chokio, said hemp
already grows naturally in the wild. He said the THC levels in the plant
are so low that if one smoked it, one would feel nothing.

``I don't think there's going to be any dire results,'' Berg said of
legalized hemp.

Although Gov. Jesse Ventura has said he supports hemp production, Public
Safety Commissioner Charlie Weaver said he had law enforcement concerns
because to the naked eye, marijuana is indistinguishable from hemp.

``The growing of marijuana remains a significant law enforcement concern,''
Weaver said.

If the bill became law, hemp growers would be allowed to set up
experimental and demonstration plots. They would have to register with the
state Department of Agriculture commissioner and with the U.S. attorney
general.