Pubdate: Sun, 27 May 2001
Source: Lexington Herald-Leader (KY)
Copyright: 2001 Lexington Herald-Leader
Contact:  http://www.kentuckyconnect.com/heraldleader/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/240
Author: John Cheves

UNIVERSITIES HESITANT TO STUDY HEMP

Controversy, Security Requirements Make Schools Leery

Universities in the state are reluctant to grow and study industrial hemp, 
despite a new law meant to encourage them.

Without academic interest, the effort to return hemp to Kentucky's farms 
possibly as a lucrative replacement for tobacco could end in failure.

None of the college agriculture programs have applied to the Council on 
Postsecondary Education to plant hemp as allowed under House Bill 100, 
which Gov. Paul Patton signed into law March 20. Hemp is an otherwise 
illegal crop because of its similarity to marijuana.

The council set a July 1 deadline for applications. But school officials 
said they have many concerns, including the controversy surrounding hemp 
and the cost of security measures, such as fences and infrared cameras, 
required by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

``We probably won't be applying this time,'' said Jenks Britt, head of the 
agriculture department at Western Kentucky University.

``It's just not a major priority to us at this point. We haven't heard of 
any school pursuing it so far,'' said James Rudolph, director of the Murray 
State University School of Agriculture.

The law's sponsors said they're confident a university will agree to study 
hemp eventually, but probably not this year.

``The most optimistic among us figured it probably would be next year, at 
the earliest, before we saw any research plots,'' said state Rep. Roger 
Thomas, D-Smiths Grove.

Added state Rep. Joe Barrows, D-Versailles: ``Everyone wants this thing to 
happen overnight, but this is a complicated process. I'm neither shocked 
nor dismayed that nobody has applied yet.''

Hemp supporters say the plant, which is used to produce food, clothing and 
a variety of other products, would be a good replacement for tobacco on 
Kentucky farms.

Hemp was a common crop in Kentucky until half a century ago, when the 
federal government outlawed its production as part of the crackdown on 
marijuana. The hemp found in products sold in the United States is grown in 
Canada and other countries.

Industrial hemp and marijuana are separate subspecies of cannabis sativa L. 
Marijuana has from five to 20 times the level of tetrahydrocannabinol, or 
THC, a mind-altering substance that can relax users when ingested.

Getting high from hemp is impossible because of its low THC level, 
supporters of the plant say. But hemp critics argue that the two plants 
appear similar enough that hemp fields could camouflage marijuana. And even 
a trace of THC from hemp food products shows up as marijuana in urine, 
rendering some drug tests useless, the critics said.

Despite intensive lobbying by hemp advocates, the Kentucky legislature has 
refused to advocate a return to hemp farming. House Bill 100 offered a 
compromise, based on a Hawaii law. Universities can grow and study hemp 
under police supervision and DEA security requirements.

In a few years, if research shows that hemp grows well in Kentucky and can 
earn a profit for farmers, legislators said they will revisit the subject.

This assumes universities want to plant hemp. It's not clear they do.

The study could be expensive, particularly the security measures required, 
and there's no money available to help schools cover the costs. At the 
University of Hawaii, which planted hemp in 1999 with a permit from the 
DEA, a private company that uses hemp seeds in its hair-care products 
donated $200,000 for the study.

Thomas, the state lawmaker, said he hopes Kentucky will arrange for public 
or private financial assistance so universities won't need to tap into 
their own research funds.

There's also the controversy. Farmers know marijuana and hemp aren't the 
same plant, but the public still connects the two, said Britt of WKU.

``It would be a big problem for us, starting with the board of regents and 
going into the community and alumni,'' he said. ``We already get strong 
letters of concern because we receive tobacco company money for scholarships.''

At the University of Kentucky, five agriculture professors said they are 
interested in hemp, and they're working on a project proposal, said Scott 
Smith, dean of the College of Agriculture.

UK might submit an application to grow hemp by the July 1 deadline, but 
first it needs more details, such as the space allowed for research plots 
and DEA security requirements, Smith said.

``Will we need to keep the hemp locked up behind barbed wire and guard 
dogs?'' he asked.

House Bill 100 created a 17-member Kentucky Industrial Hemp Commission to 
help universities with research, explain the rules and report to the 
governor and legislature on progress. But the commission, which must meet 
by July 1 under the law, still hasn't been appointed.

Barrows, the law's co-sponsor, said the deadlines were included ``so we 
don't wait around forever before we at least hold a meeting.'' But even if 
schools don't apply by July and the commission doesn't meet, the law 
remains on the books, he said.

``There's nothing mystical or magical about (the deadlines),'' Barrows said.

``This was an instance in which the legislature was ahead of the curve,'' 
he said, ``and now everyone else has to catch up.''
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom