cannabisnews.com: Hawaii: Gov. Signs Hemp Cultivation Bill!





Hawaii: Gov. Signs Hemp Cultivation Bill!
Posted by FoM on July 23, 1999 at 10:55:15 PT
NORML's Weekly Update News
Source: NORML
July 22, Honolulu, HI: Governor Ben Cayetano (D) signed legislation this month authorizing hemp cultivation for research purposes.
  "This law is the result of years of hard work from state activists and legislators dedicated toward making hemp a legal cash crop in Hawaii," NORML Executive Director R. Keith Stroup, Esq. said.   Hawaii is the third state this year to pass legislation allowing for hemp cultivation. In April, North Dakota became the first state in over 50 years to make hemp farming a non-criminal offense.   House Bill 32 permits "privately funded ... research on the agronomic potential of industrial hemp." Bill sponsor Rep. Cynthia Thielen (R-Kailua) said that researchers will request state and federal permit applications shortly, and anticipates an initial fall planting. Test plots will be grown on a plot of land at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.   Alterna Applied Research Laboratories, a California company that markets hemp-based hair products, is investing $200,000 to help finance the cultivation project. The Alterna grant will help pay for geneticist Dr. David West, co-founder of the North American Industrial Hemp Council and author of the report "Hemp and Marijuana: Myths and Realities," to develop a hemp seed ideal for Hawaii's climate and environment.   "This first crop is just a political act," he said. West added that regulators will have to expand the cultivation trials statewide to better ascertain hemp's viability as a cash crop.   For more information, please contact Keith Stroup or Paul Armentano of NORML   (202) 483-5500. http://www.norml.org/news/index.shtml#story2
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