Pubdate: Tue, 12 Jul 2016
Source: Boston Globe (MA)
Copyright: 2016 Associated Press
Contact: http://services.bostonglobe.com/news/opeds/letter.aspx?id=6340
Website: http://bostonglobe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/52

MAINE RECEIVES JUST TWO APPLICATIONS TO GROW HEMP

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) - So far, only the Passamaquoddy Tribe and a 
Portland resident have received permission to grow what would be the 
state's first licensed crops of industrial hemp. They are going into 
unknown territory in Maine at a time when federal law prohibits 
commercial hemp cultivation.

Republican state Representative Deborah Sanderson, of Chelsea, who 
sponsored last summer's hemp legalization bill, said the state's been 
"very slow" in getting the crop going. Benedicta potato farmer Glenn 
Lane said the Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry 
has prolonged the rule-making process.

But a spokesman for Maine's agriculture department said that creating 
inspection and violation rules went quickly for such a complex issue 
and that federal law's is the biggest hurdle.

University of Maine extension professor John Jemison said he plans to 
seek a federal Drug Enforcement Administration permit to research 
hemp cultivation and its potential use as food and cannabidiol oil.

Agriculture department spokesman John Bott said there are no plans to 
get a permit from the US Drug Enforcement Administration. And even if 
the department did, seed could only be sold to research institutions, he said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom