THE KENTUCKY GAZETTE The authoritative journal on government, politics and business

Frankfort, Kentucky March 28, 2000

Former KY governors say hemp will help farmers
By Laura Cullen

In a bipartisan show of support for family farmers, four former governors endorsed legislation that originally would have allowed farmers to grow and market industrial hemp.

The hemp bill, HB 855, was watered down in the House to allow only university research of industrial hemp, and Thursday the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources approved the bill 6-1 on a motion to vote the bill out of committee without expressing an opinion the bill should pass the Senate. Before voting on this motion, the panel rejected an earlier motion to recommend the bill's passage.

The weakened legislative showing came on the same day the Supreme Court ruled in Commonwealth of Kentucky v. Woody Harrelson (1998-SC-1048-DG) that the statutory definition of marijuana is not overbroad. In 1996 Harrelson planted four hemp seeds in a Lee County field and subsequently was arrested on misdemeanor charges of cultivating marijuana. Harrelson defended himself by saying the definition of marijuana is overbroad and therefore unconstitutional.

Lower courts had ruled in Harrelson's favor, but the state's high court unanimously disagreed and sent the case back to Lee District Court for trial or other action.

Kentucky State Police spokesman Lt. Kevin Payne said Friday the KSP is "very pleased" with the Supreme Court ruling.

"We want the public to know that hemp (supporters) are trying to say hemp and marijuana are two different plants, and they're not. The only difference is the THC level," he said.

But it was amended by the House to allow only research.

On the other side of the issues, hemp supporters were not discouraged by the high court's opinion.

"The ruling of the Supreme Court is against any common sense if they looked around the world," said Joe Hickey, executive director for the Kentucky Hemp Growers Cooperative Association. "Under their ruling, Canada, France, Germany (and) England all are marijuana-producing counties. É And I bet Henry Clay has rolled over in his grave because now, Henry Clay, the great American statesman, is considered a marijuana grower."

While he disagreed with the ruling, Hickey said it is a positive step because the "Supreme Court has basically said it's a legislative issue."

If HB 855 gets to the Senate floor, it might stand a good chance of passing, Hickey explained. "We need 20 votes to get it off the clerk's desk, but we would need those same 20 votes to pass it anyway."

The fate of the legislation is uncertain, as with other issues, representatives and senators jockey for favorable position in the view of Kentucky's voters. Lee Craig of Lebanon, who works at the Kentucky Hemp Museum in Lebanon and raises hemp-fed beef, said he thought supporters of the bill had at least 20 votes lined up on Friday.

Earlier this month, HB 855 found support from ex-Govs. Edward "Ned" Breathitt, Louie Nunn, Julian Carroll and Brereton Jones. The four former first executives gathered at Lexington's Coach House restaurant almost two weeks ago to provide candid support for the cultivation of industrial hemp.

In addition to citing the market uses of industrial hemp -- manufacturing paper, fabric and such -- the governors said industrial hemp could help family farmers who are experiencing economic woes brought on by cuts in burley tobacco quotas and low commodity prices in general.

"We don't think we can turn our backs on the family farm and we ought to look at anything that can give relief to the family farmer. And this is one," said Breathitt.

Jones agreed. "This is just one small step, but it's got to be a series of these kinds of steps if we're going to save the family farm."

"(And) this is not a position taken in opposition to the governor," Jones said in reference to Gov. Paul Patton's opposition to the bill. "We just think that it's logical, that it's reasonable to come to the support of the family farm in Kentucky."

At the press conference, Nunn said none of the four governors has been lobbying the Legislature on HB 855, which is sponsored by state Rep. Joe Barrows, D-Versailles.

Addressing the hemp issue through a spokeswoman, Patton last week said since hemp markets don't exist in the U.S. now, there is no real way to determine if hemp would be a viable crop and would come to the aid of family farms.

"I'm of a mind that we should invest our energies in legal alternatives as long as federal law prohibits us from growing industrial hemp, and that we should not be distracted by a crop that offers little more than potential under the right conditions," said Patton.

Patton also said he shares the concerns of law enforcement officials and the Kentucky State Police who oppose growing industrial hemp because doing so would make enforcement of marijuana laws difficult.

"Industrial hemp is not legalized marijuana," said Nunn. "There is a very definite distinction between the two. And if the state police and Kentucky law enforcement are not able to determine the difference, then I think they can be adequately educated -- they're basically intelligent people."

Jones added, "Through education, they will recognize the points that have been made here today, and I feel very optimistic É that through education, they will come around as we all have."

Indeed, law enforcement wouldn't be that difficult, Carroll explained, since all industrial hemp growers would be required to have a permit and the crop would be grown in open fields, not hidden in woods like marijuana often is.

"Any farmer who grows one marijuana plant among his industrial hemp is a fool because he's going to lose his family farm if he's caught, Carroll said.

In addition to the governors' support, industrial hemp received a municipal boost from the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government when the body passed a pro-hemp resolution on March 9, 2000.