Tagged: Hemp Commission

Kentucky's industrial hemp supporters lashed out Thursday against a last-minute amendment to the hemp bill that's been under consideration this year in the General Assembly.

State Rep. Rocky Adkins, a Sandy Hook Democrat and the majority floor leader, has proposed an amendment turning the Senate-approve hemp bill into a five year study. It also gives the licensing responsibilities to Kentucky State Police, which argues that legalized hemp would harm law enforcement efforts to target hemp's cousin, marijuana.

The second meeting of the state’s Industrial Hemp Commission will soon begin sorting through the details of its efforts to bring legalized hemp to Kentucky.

The commission will work on the details of a new legislative bill proposal, such what the bill will include and which legisators will sponsor it during the 2013 session, said the chairman, Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer.

Comer says another detail will be to pick a state university to commission a new economic study of legalizing industrial hemp in Kentucky.

The push for hemp in Kentucky is getting a bump from other states' efforts to legalize the plant's unsavory cousin, a Kentucky official said.

State Agriculture Commission James Comer -- a leading advocate for industrial hemp in 

Kentucky -- said growing support will help their initiative in the next legislative session.

The Industrial Hemp Commission, for which Comer is chairman, held its first meeting in a decade on Wednesday.

The commission will work for the next few weeks on crafting -- and the commission will then lobby Kentucky lawmakers to pass it. Comer, who has helped lobby for previous industrial hemp bills, said the commission's proposals will differ from past bills.