That Hemp Necklace You Like is Going to Come Back In Style
The Drug Enforcement Administration has kicked its lobbying against legalizing industrial hemp into high gear, hoping to block an amendment in the House that would decriminalize the crop for research purposes.
The amendment to the farm bill, proposed by Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), is far more modest than a Senate effort by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to fully legalize the crop for industrial purposes. That measure never found its way into the Senate version of the bill. The House may vote on Polis’ amendment as soon as Tuesday evening.
The Huffington Post has obtained a copy of talking points the DEA is circulating among members of Congress to press them to oppose the amendment — raising the seemingly incongruous specter of the government using its resources to lobby itself.
The talking points, paradoxically, represent a step forward in the debate. In the Senate, hemp advocates were left only to counter vague “law enforcement concerns” that senators told HuffPost were a factor in their willingness to support reform. With the DEA laying out those specific concerns, hemp backers will attempt to rebut them point by point.
Broadly, the DEA’s case focuses on the supposed inability to easily distinguish between hemp and its cousin, marijuana. The similarity, the DEA argues, would allow pot growers to shield their plants behind rows of hemp plants. But the DEA appears not to have gotten the talk about the birds and the bees. A pot grower who allowed hemp plants near a prized marijuana crop would risk cross-pollination, which would result in a dramatically inferior product. In fact, California pot growers have been avid opponents of legalized hemp for just that reason.
Hemp is legal to grow in many industrialized countries, including Canada, and is legal to import into the U.S. States such as Polis’ Colorado and McConnell’s Kentucky have legalized hemp growing, but await federal action.
Talking points from hemp advocates can be found here. The Senate bill was cosponsored by McConnell and Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) andRon Wyden (R-Ore.).
