COMMITTEE ENDORSES CALL FOR HEMP STUDY

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- A House of Delegates committee has endorsed a measure
calling for the study of industrial hemp, a relative of marijuana that
lacks the kick of the street drug.

The resolution approved Monday, sponsored by Del. Mitchell Van Yahres,
D-Albemarle, asks federal officials to let the state's universities
experiment with cultivation of industrial hemp for commercial use. Hemp was
outlawed in the United States in 1937 because of its association with
marijuana.

But it has a very low content of THC, the chemical that makes marijuana an
intoxicant, and it was grown legally in the United States during World War
II when the government used it to make rope. Some agriculture officials say
hemp should be legalized again because it is a strong fiber useful in
clothes, plastics and other commercial products. Van Yahres suggested
Monday that hemp could come in handy for struggling tobacco farmers in need
of a new cash crop.

"The farmer, I think, is going to be the low man on the totem pole'' in the
wake of the national tobacco settlement, Van Yahres told the House Rules
Committee. "I think we need to talk about ways to help the farmer.''
Several other delegates questioned Van Yahres about hemp's commercial
usefulness and whether the plant can be smoked.

After a brief debate, the committee voted 9-2 to endorse the resolution.

The General Assembly will consider the measure during the session that
begins Jan. 13.

Checked-by: Joel W. Johnson