Kansas House passes industrial hemp bill
Kansas Senate Bill 263, which creates a program to research the use of industrial hemp and excludes industrial hemp from definition of marijuana and cannabinoids, passed in the Kansas House 123-1 on March 28. Only Republican Rep. Ron Ellis, of Meriden, voted against the measure.
If it becomes law, the measure would enact the Alternative Crop Research Act, which would allow the Kansas Department of Agriculture to grow industrial hemp with or without a state institution of higher learning and promote the research and development of industrial hemp, in accordance with federal law.
According to a supplemental note on the bill, "Research and development of industrial hemp, under the provisions of the bill, would include such things as analysis of industrial hemp growth including required soils, growing conditions, and harvest methods; research on seeds most suitable for Kansas; and market analysis to determine the potential for an industrial hemp market in Kansas. The bill would authorize the KDA to establish a pilot program in Russell County, and other counties determined by the KDA, for the purpose of economic development, research, cultivation, market analysis, manufacturing, and transportation of industrial hemp and industrial hemp products."
