The Illinois Senate and House of Representatives have before them
"industrial hemp" bills.
These bills have serious implications for increasing drug use. Hemp
and marijuana are the same plant, cannabis sativa, which has the
psychoactive ingredient, THC. It is being suggested that "industrial
hemp" could be a vital, new crop for Illinois farmers.
Yet, according to a new USDA report, there is only a negligible market
for hemp. "Given the average size of farms in the United States (about
500 acres), just a few farms could have supplied the hemp fiber and
seed equivalent of 1999 import levels." "Industrial hemp" and
marijuana look alike, and short of chemical analysis, there is no way
to discriminate between the two. Today, people clear patches in the
middle of corn fields and grow marijuana plants, hidden from
passers-by. If hemp is allowed to be grown in Illinois, then certainly
high levels of THC in cultivated marijuana plants will also be
growing. The demands on law enforcement will be tremendous.
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