HEMP BILL RAISES SOME QUESTIONS

Bill would allow state farmers to grow plant

A Senate committee wants more answers before it takes any action on a bill
to legalize the growing of industrial hemp for commercial purposes.

The hemp is related to marijuana but the bill's sponsor, Sen. Karen
Facemyer, said it contains only a miniscule amount of the ingredient that
gives marijuana its intoxicating properties.

She told her fellow Agriculture Committee members Wednesday that she came
up with the idea while attending a Council of State Governments meeting in
Hawaii. Pineapple plantations there have suffered from competition from
Asia, she said, so some farmers have switched to growing industrial hemp.

Facemyer, R-Jackson, said hemp can be used in the manufacture of many
things, including rope, sacks, seat belts, oil, fuel and diapers. Her bill
would require farmers who want to grow hemp to get licenses, which could be
renewed annually, from the agriculture commissioner.

The bill would also require those farmers to notify the commissioner
annually of any sales or other distribution of the hemp and who received
it. Someone who violates provisions of the bill could face the same charges
as anyone who violates the law dealing with controlled substances.

Allan Tweddle, a retired engineer from Charleston, told the committee that
hemp "really has enormous business potential" and is being cultivated in
his native country, Canada.

Bob Williams, executive secretary of the West Virginia Farm Bureau, said
his organization would support the growing of hemp as long as it is legal
and profitable.

Both Sen. Walt Helmick, D-Pocahontas, and Sen. Shirley Love, D- Fayette,
said they had heard that hemp was grown in West Virginia many years ago.
Helmick said several states have legalized the growing of hemp.

Lobbyist Chuck Wyrostock passed out information sheets from Concerned
Citizens of Roane, Calhoun & Gilmer Counties that said worldwide retail
sales of hemp products had grown from $5 million in 1993 to $150 million in
2000, including $80 million to $90 million in the United States.

Because of hemp's relationship to marijuana, there were jokes among
committee members about smoking it, but Sen. John Mitchell, D-Kanawha, said
he hoped the committee would take a serious look at letting farmers grow hemp.