Pubdate: Mon, 11 Nov 2013
Source: Oregonian, The (Portland, OR)
Copyright: 2013 The Oregonian
Contact:  http://www.oregonlive.com/oregonian/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/324
Author: Noelle Crombie

BLUMENAUER URGES OREGON TO BE NATIONAL LEADER ON HEMP

Oregon should be a national leader in industrial hemp production, 
which can fuel economic development in rural communities, inspire 
entrepreneurs and meet rising consumer demand, U.S. Rep. Earl 
Blumenauer said Saturday.

"I think the stakes are high for Oregon," Blumenauer told a group of 
industrial hemp supporters at a forum he organized in Portland Saturday.

The Portland Democrat, an outspoken advocate of industrial hemp, said 
momentum is building for the crop in Oregon and in other states. He 
pointed to a letter he received on Friday from Oregon's U.S. 
attorney, Amanda Marshall, as a positive step for hemp production in the state.

In the letter, Marshall did not explicitly sign off on hemp 
production, but she wrote that the federal government expects states 
that legalize cannabis for industrial or medical purposes "will 
establish and enforce strict regulatory schemes that protect" the 
federal government's priorities when it comes to marijuana.

She said federal officials expect states to create "tough" rules and 
to fund enforcement.

"These schemes must be tough in practice, not just on paper," she 
wrote. "They must include strong, state based-enforcement efforts 
backed by adequate funding. We will take a trust but verify approach.

"In other words," Marshall wrote, "as long as the state follows 
through in imposing strict controls regulating marijuana-related 
conduct, it is less likely that any of the department's eight 
enforcement priorities will be threatened and federal action will be 
less necessary."

Blumenauer said the letter further clarifies the federal government's 
take on hemp.

"It is common sense," he said. If the federal government doesn't plan 
to pursue legal or medical marijuana, "then you would certainly not 
be going after hemp."

Eric Steenstra, executive director of the Hemp Industries Association 
in Washington, D.C., told Saturday's gathering of about 50 people 
that Marshall's letter is a major development.

"This is the first U.S. attorney to make a public statement on this," 
he said. "This is huge. This opens the door for the (Oregon) 
Department of Agriculture and other officials in the state to say now 
we have clear guidance for how to make this work."

Other speakers at Saturday's forum included a representative from the 
Oregon Department of Agriculture, a prospective hemp farmer who grows 
wheat in Dufur and a Whole Foods executive, who told the group that 
the grocery chain has seen 25 percent annual growth in sales of hemp 
products, from burgers to soap.

Russ Karow, a crop and soil scientist at Oregon State University, 
told the gathering of enthusiastic hemp supporters to have realistic 
expectations. Oregon's climate, irrigation demands and the economics 
of farming will factor into farmers' decisions about whether to farm 
hemp, he said.

Places like Hermiston and Ontario offer ideal climate for hemp 
plants, but Karow said farmers would need to know more about the 
crop's value and use before exploring it.

"They are going to look at the production economics of that," he 
said. "Do I put my water on sweet corn or green beans, which are high 
value crops, versus hemp?"

Oregon officials this week said they are investigating industrial 
hemp rules in Canada, North Dakota and Colorado and are in the 
process of drafting rules for the state. Agriculture officials hope 
to have rules in place for the possibility of a spring planting. 
Oregon is one of 10 state that have defined industrial hemp and 
removed barriers to its production. Oregon agriculture officials have 
held off implementing the state's 2009 law, saying they would wait 
until the federal government reclassified marijuana from a substance 
prone to abuse and lacking medicinal value.

The federal government in August said it would not challenge 
marijuana legalization laws in Colorado and Washington, a decision 
that invigorated the hemp movement. Federal law makes no distinction 
between marijuana and its non-intoxicating relative, hemp.

Countries that allow hemp production today sanction a select list of 
well-established strains that have been bred to have exceptionally 
low tetrahydrocannabinol, marijuana's psychoactive property. Canada 
and European countries cap hemp's THC level at less than .3 percent.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom