EDWARDSVILLE -- State Sen. Evelyn Bowles vowed Saturday to fight for an override of Gov. George Ryan's veto of a bill she sponsored that would have allowed a study of industrial hemp's potential as a crop for Illinois farmers. Ryan announced Friday he had vetoed the legislation, arguing that other studies have settled the issue. "To put it mildly, I'm very disappointed," said Bowles, D-Edwardsville.

"I was not aware of any of these studies that were going to be done in the direction that we were looking, with the potential of developing an industrial hemp plant minus any THC," Bowles said. THC is the psychoactive ingredient in the marijuana plant, a close relative of the hemp plant. Supporters of developing an industrial hemp plant have said that the tiny amount of THC in traditional hemp plants is too small for it to be smoked for a "high."

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