Hemp Bill Passes Kentucky Senate Committee on Agriculture

Senate Bill 50, or the Hemp Bill, passed the Kentucky Senate Committee on Agriculture. The bill was unanimously voted on Monday.

The approved bill would license Kentucky farmers to grow hemp if federal restrictions are lifted.

Via hemp.org:

Kentucky State Police Commissioner, Rodney Brewer expressed his concerns with legalizing hemp.

“We’ve heard that you can’t get high off of hemp. You can get high off of hemp,” says Brewer.

Brewer says hemp is very similar to marijuana. He believes legalizing it would lead to more crime throughout the commonwealth.

What’s can the new bill do?

– require the department to coordinate a criminal history check with the assistance of law enforcement agencies;

– establish a license duration period;

– require the department to set the cost of the license by administrative regulation;

– require the department to forward a copy of an industrial hemp grower license to law enforcement agencies;

– specify stipulations for growers having an industrial hemp grower license;

– clarify that the Act does not authorize a person to violate federal law;

– require periodic reports to the Kentucky Industrial Hemp Commission;

– establish circumstances under which a license may be withdrawn

Download the text of SB 50 here (PDF file 172k).