Committee Considers Compromise On Hemp Legalization
May 9, 1999
Minneapolis Star-Tribune
St. Paul, MN -- A proposal before a conference committee would allow the governor to apply for federal permits to authorize the growing of experimental and demonstration plots of industrial hemp.
A proposal to legalize hemp as a crop passed the Senate earlier this session but was stopped in a House committee. The amendment, part of a House governmental finance bill, would also allow individuals to apply to grow the hemp in demonstration plots.
Gov. Jesse Ventura has supported the legalization of industrial hemp, a cousin of marijuana with a low amount of the psychoactive ingredient THC.
Hemp has become a trendy product of choice used in items ranging from designer clothing to expensive German automobiles. Hemp was legalized in Canada last year and was once used in the United States to make rope and other products.
Opponents of legalizing hemp say it is indistinguishable from marijuana and could lead to law enforcement problems.
Copyright 1999 Star Tribune
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