Source: The Des Moines Register
Proponents of reintroducing hemp in Iowa — tens of thousands of acres dotted the landscape during World War II — have worked to build their case by distancing themselves from the plant’s infamous relative, marijuana.
They also tout the benefits of industrial hemp on the environment, local businesses that make products with the plant’s fibers or seeds, and farmers who would have another crop to add to their rotation.
“Our legislators really need to get on board and quit acting like it’s a drug, like people are going to smoke it and get high,” said Michelle Van Winkle, a board member at the Iowa Hemp Association. “They are putting limitations on science and medicine, when they don’t even understand it.”
Industrial hemp received a boost in 2014, when the farm bill allowed universities and state departments of agriculture to cultivate or conduct research as part of a pilot program.
Since the law went into effect, at least 30 states, including Minnesota, Nebraska and Illinois, have passed legislation related to the weedy plant, the National Conference of State Legislatures has estimated.
In Iowa, it remains illegal to grow hemp.
State Rep. John Forbes, an Urbandale Democrat who works as a pharmacist, introduced a bill in 2015 legalizing hemp production in Iowa, but it languished in the state Legislature. He said he would consider another attempt as soon as this session.
“As more and more legislators become educated in this area of industrial hemp and know that it’s not the same thing as medical marijuana, I think they are opening up to this possibly being a crop here in the state of Iowa,” he said. “I’m more optimistic now than I was 18 months ago when that legislation was filed.”
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This article originally posted …: National Hemp Association
