tsai3904
06-05-2013, 12:48 PM
Legal Hemp On The Ropes: Senate Effort Running Into Stiff Law Enforcement Opposition
The attempt to move industrial hemp legalization through the Senate as part of the farm bill is running into stiff resistance from law enforcement, threatening to derail the effort.
...
[Mitch] McConnell, taking the tactical lead, has been pressing either to simply insert the hemp language into the underlying farm bill or to specifically add it through a voice vote (rather than a recorded vote), according to multiple people involved in the negotiations. The Senate will return to debate on the farm bill Thursday morning.
The purpose of a voice vote would be twofold: First, it would give senators a low-profile way to support an issue still perceived as controversial and strongly opposed by police and prosecutors. "Law enforcement is very opposed," said one top Democratic aide, explaining the reluctance to hold a floor vote.
...
Hemp is not an issue that many senators have thought much about. HuffPost canvassed a wide swath from both parties and found most of them without enough information to form an opinion. Even those from farm states who have been supportive in the past were reluctant to take a stand on it -- with the exception of Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), who said she remains a longtime backer.
More:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/05/legal-hemp_n_3390826.html
Call and email your Senators. Urge them to support Senator Wyden's Industrial Hemp Amendment to the Farm Bill. It is S.Amdt. 952 to S. 954.
Find your Senators' contact info here:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Here is an email you can use written by Vote Hemp:
I am writing to ask that you cosponsor & vote for S.AMDT.952, Senator Wyden's Industrial Hemp Amendment to the Farm Bill, which was introduced on May 20th. The language is the same as S. 359, the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2013, which has bipartisan support. The legislation allows American farmers to once again grow hemp to the extent that it is allowed under state laws. The text of S. 359 is available from THOMAS:
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.uscongress/legislation.113s359
If you or your staff would like to learn more about this agricultural issue, please read the latest version of the Congressional Research Service (CRS) report "Hemp as an Agricultural Commodity" is dated March 21, 2013 and has the order code RL32725. The report can be ordered from the CRS or it can be downloaded from the National Agricultural Law Center at:
http://nationalaglawcenter.org/assets/crs/RL32725.pdf
To date, thirty-one states have introduced pro-hemp legislation and nineteen have passed pro-hemp legislation; nine states (Colorado, Kentucky, Maine, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and West Virginia) have defined industrial hemp as distinct and removed barriers to its production. Passage of the Industrial Hemp Amendment to the Farm Bill would finally allow these states to choose whether or not to let farmers grow industrial hemp.
I would specifically like to know: Will you cosponsor & vote for S.AMDT.952, Senator Wyden's Industrial Hemp Amendment to the Farm Bill?
I look forward to your reply.
The attempt to move industrial hemp legalization through the Senate as part of the farm bill is running into stiff resistance from law enforcement, threatening to derail the effort.
...
[Mitch] McConnell, taking the tactical lead, has been pressing either to simply insert the hemp language into the underlying farm bill or to specifically add it through a voice vote (rather than a recorded vote), according to multiple people involved in the negotiations. The Senate will return to debate on the farm bill Thursday morning.
The purpose of a voice vote would be twofold: First, it would give senators a low-profile way to support an issue still perceived as controversial and strongly opposed by police and prosecutors. "Law enforcement is very opposed," said one top Democratic aide, explaining the reluctance to hold a floor vote.
...
Hemp is not an issue that many senators have thought much about. HuffPost canvassed a wide swath from both parties and found most of them without enough information to form an opinion. Even those from farm states who have been supportive in the past were reluctant to take a stand on it -- with the exception of Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), who said she remains a longtime backer.
More:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/05/legal-hemp_n_3390826.html
Call and email your Senators. Urge them to support Senator Wyden's Industrial Hemp Amendment to the Farm Bill. It is S.Amdt. 952 to S. 954.
Find your Senators' contact info here:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Here is an email you can use written by Vote Hemp:
I am writing to ask that you cosponsor & vote for S.AMDT.952, Senator Wyden's Industrial Hemp Amendment to the Farm Bill, which was introduced on May 20th. The language is the same as S. 359, the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2013, which has bipartisan support. The legislation allows American farmers to once again grow hemp to the extent that it is allowed under state laws. The text of S. 359 is available from THOMAS:
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.uscongress/legislation.113s359
If you or your staff would like to learn more about this agricultural issue, please read the latest version of the Congressional Research Service (CRS) report "Hemp as an Agricultural Commodity" is dated March 21, 2013 and has the order code RL32725. The report can be ordered from the CRS or it can be downloaded from the National Agricultural Law Center at:
http://nationalaglawcenter.org/assets/crs/RL32725.pdf
To date, thirty-one states have introduced pro-hemp legislation and nineteen have passed pro-hemp legislation; nine states (Colorado, Kentucky, Maine, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and West Virginia) have defined industrial hemp as distinct and removed barriers to its production. Passage of the Industrial Hemp Amendment to the Farm Bill would finally allow these states to choose whether or not to let farmers grow industrial hemp.
I would specifically like to know: Will you cosponsor & vote for S.AMDT.952, Senator Wyden's Industrial Hemp Amendment to the Farm Bill?
I look forward to your reply.