US MN: Senate Gives Hemp Bill Preliminary OK



Pubdate: Tue, 09 Mar 1999 



Source: Minneapolis Star-Tribune (MN) 



Author: Robert Whereatt 	



ubject: SENATE GIVES HEMP BILL PRELIMINARY OK	



Industrial hemp could be grown as an agricultural crop on experimental or demonstration plots 

under legislation that the Senate gave preliminary approval to Monday.	



Industrial hemp can be used in the manufacture of paper, yarn, rope, sacks and other sisal hemp 

products. Advocates say it could be an alternative crop for farmers. Under the bill, a farmer would 

have to be registered by the state agriculture commissioner to grow industrial hemp and would 

have to specify the location of the experimental plot. 	



Senate Majority Leader Roger Moe, who represents a rural northwestern Minnesota district, is the 

bill's sponsor. Moe, DFL-Erskine, said hemp contains almost no tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, 

which is what creates the "high" among marijuana smokers.	



The 1998 Legislature approved a bill that would have authorized a study of the crop, but then-Gov. 

Arne Carlson vetoed it. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) opposed the bill. 

	



This year, Gov. Jesse Ventura favors the legislation. Public Safety Commissioner Charlie Weaver 

said the BCA continues to have concerns about distinguishing between the industrial hemp plant 

and its cousin, the marijuana plant.	



"I think they're legitimate," he said of the BCA concerns. 	



Weaver said he and the BCA have similar concerns about legislation that would permit use of a 

small amount of marijuana by people with certain diseases, including cancer, if prescribed by a 

doctor. 	



"It's a question of just making sure we don't open the floodgates," he said.