At the of last month, Gov. Wise of West Virginia signed the Industrial Hemp Development Act into law making West Virginia the 8th state to allow hemp farming or research under state law.
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The West Virginia law allows state farmers to grow hemp which contains 1% or less tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) after obtaining a license from the state Department of Agriculture. Licensees must submit to a background check and inform authorities of the exact location where the crop will be grown.
To date more than a quarter of the 50 states have passed bills or resolutions supporting hemp farming and there are industrial hemp bills pending in several states including Wisconsin, Hawaii, California and Arizona.
Persons who want to grow hemp are currently also required to get a federal license from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Since the DEA licensing requirement took effect in 1971, the agency has only issued one license to cultivate hemp for industrial purposes. That license was granted to the state of Hawaii where trials are being conducted behind a DEA mandated 10 foot high barbed wire fence.
Countries like Canada, France and England allow farmers to grow hemp without prohibitive measures like security fencing. US farmers want to compete for this growing market but can not do so as long as the federal government refuses to make a distinction between low THC industrial hemp and high THC marijuana.
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By GlobalData
