BILL NUMBER: HR 32 INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Strom-Martin AUGUST 16, 1999 House Resolution No. 32--Relative to industrial hemp. HOUSE OR SENATE RESOLUTIONS DO NOT CONTAIN A DIGEST WHEREAS, Industrial hemp was first domesticated 10,000 years ago; was required in 1619 to be grown by all farmers in Jamestown, Virginia; was legal tender in America and accepted as payment for taxes from 1631 to the early 1800's; was a cash crop grown on the plantations of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson; was grown in America and regulated by the Department of Agriculture until 1937; and was the domestic source of maritime rope during the 1942 to 1945 World War II "Hemp for Victory" campaign; and WHEREAS, Industrial hemp provided the ropes and sails for Christopher Columbus' ships and the paper on which the Declaration of Independence was first drafted; and WHEREAS, Industrial hemp has been used to produce more than 25,000 products; and WHEREAS, Industrial hemp is produced by 30 nations, including Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Romania, Australia, and China, none of which are classified by the federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) as drug-producing countries; and WHEREAS, The DEA permits industrial hemp to be grown under strict rules and regulations that are currently being revised; and WHEREAS, The importation of industrial hemp is permitted by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and the North American Free Trade Agreement; and WHEREAS, North Dakota has legalized industrial hemp for commercial farming; Hawaii and Minnesota have legalized test crops of industrial hemp; the Legislatures of Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin are considering the legalization of industrial hemp; and the City and County of San Francisco is currently drafting an ordinance to permit its residents to grow industrial hemp; and WHEREAS, Industrial hemp can be easily distinguished from marijuana by appearance, cultivation methods, and chemical analysis because industrial hemp is a nonintoxicating, benign form of the cannabis sativa plant that contains less than 1 percent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), while marijuana contains 5 to 20 percent THC; and industrial hemp seeds are planted to yield more than 1,000 stalks per two square yards, while only one marijuana plant can be grown in the same size plot; and industrial hemp matures in 70 to 120 days and is harvested before it flowers, while marijuana is cultivated for its flowertops and takes 120 to 180 days to mature; and, when grown together, industrial hemp will pollinate marijuana, reducing its THC content to a nonintoxicating level; and WHEREAS, Industrial hemp thrives without herbicides, reinvigorates the soil, requires less water than cotton, matures in three to four months, and can potentially yield four times as much paper per acre as trees, building materials that are twice as strong as wood and concrete, textile fiber that is up to eight times as strong as cotton, better oil and paint than petroleum, clean-burning diesel fuel, biodegradable plastics, and more digestible protein per acre than any other food source; and WHEREAS, Industrial hemp can be planted and harvested in California several times per year, and gross $200 to $600 per acre per harvest at current market prices; and WHEREAS, All industrial hemp raw materials currently must be imported to manufacture products that are distributed by, and sold in, more than 60 specialty shops and 250 general stores throughout California, with national sales and exports exceeding $100 million per year; now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, That the Assembly finds and declares that industrial hemp is a vital, sustainable, renewable resource for building materials, cloth, cordage, fiber, food, fuel, industrial chemicals, oil, paint, paper, plastics, seed, yarn, and many other useful products; and be it further Resolved, That the Assembly finds and declares that the domestic production of industrial hemp can help protect California's environment, contribute to the growth of the state economy, and be regulated in a manner that will not interfere with the enforcement of marijuana laws; and be it further Resolved, That the Assembly finds and declares that the Legislature should consider action to revise the legal status of industrial hemp to allow for its growth in California as an agricultural and industrial crop; and be it further Resolved, That the Assembly finds and declares that the Legislature should consider directing the University of California, the California State University, and other state agencies to prepare studies in conjunction with private industry on the cultivation, processing, and marketing of industrial hemp.