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HowWe Wrote HB 1445
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Virginia Goes Green
for Industrial Hemp
By Delegate Joseph Yost
An old friend is coming back to
Virginia. Since its federal ban in the 1930’s,
industrial hemp will once again be allowed
to be grown in the Commonwealth. HB
1277/SB955, patroned by Delegate Joseph
Yost (R-12) and Senator Rosalyn Dance
(D-16), allows for industrial hemp to be
grown for research purposes, with the intent
of allowing for full scale production within
the upcoming years. The bill received vast
bipartisan support, passing unanimously out
of the Virginia House of Delegates and with
three nay votes from Virginia’s Senate. Governor McAuliffe signed
the bill into law in March of 2015.
Hemp andVirginia have a long history together. Jamestown settlers
grew hemp for paper, rope, and clothing. Presidents Washington and
Jefferson grew hemp, and early Americans were legally bound to
grow the crop during times of war. But the Commonwealth’s friendly
relationship with the crop was not to last.
Due to the public’s increasingly negative sentiments towards
marijuana, Congress passed the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 which
discouraged the production of Cannabis. At the same time, the U.S.
government was actively encouraging farmers to grow hemp for
fiber and oil duringWorldWar II. Within the next two decades, hemp
would face increased competition from synthetic fibers, governmental
resistance, and mounting public concern regarding marijuana, which
resulted in the cessation of hemp production and cultivation by 1958.
Despite America’s resistance towards the production of hemp,
the demand for its products has rapidly increased in recent years. In
2012, the United States imported half a billion dollars worth of hemp
products from China, Romania, Hungary, India, Great Britain, and
Canada. These products include cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, fabrics,
industrial oils, and papers. Our northern neighbor Canada is enjoying
the positive impacts of their billion dollar hemp industry.
In 2014, the federal Farm Bill included a provision allowing
universities and State Departments of Agriculture to grow hemp for
research purposes. Using this framework, HB1277/SB955 directs
Virginia’s Commissioner of the Department of Agriculture and
Consumer services to establish an industrial hemp research program
and relevant regulations in the Commonwealth.
Because of this, we can now explore the plant’s potential
economic boost to Virginia’s economy. Industrial hemp production
would create jobs and economic development, particularly in rural
areas in Virginia. Should federal regulations allow for commercial
production in the future, this bill would ensure that we are ready to
move forward in Virginia.
Although the bill will not take effect until July 1, earlier this spring
the Procurement Office at theVirginia Department of Agriculture and
Consumer Services (VDACS) issued a Request for Proposals (RFP)
for participation in the industrial hemp research program.
The Request sets forth the information an interested public
institution of higher education must submit as part of its proposal. All
proposals are due on June 26, 2015. VDACS evaluation committee
will then review each proposal and determine which public institutions
of higher education are qualified and best-suited to directly manage
an industrial hemp research program that focuses on one or more of
the research topics outlined in the legislation.
VDACS will enter into a memorandum of agreement with each
public institution of higher education that is selected to manage an
industrial hemp research program.
Separately, VDACS is also preparing its application for a
controlled substance importation registration of industrial hemp.
The Department plans to submit this application to the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Agency in the near future.
Because of what many dub as “the world’s most sustainable
plant,” the future is a little bit brighter and greener for Virginia. This
program will help lay the foundation for a new industry that will be
great for agriculture, great for the environment and great for jobs.
Industrial Hemp Fast Facts:
Industrial hemp has been grown in the U.S. since the first
European settlers arrived in early 1600’s.
George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams all grew
hemp and actively advocated for commercial hemp production.
Hemp was a staple crop of 1800’s American agriculture, reflected
in town names like “Hempfield” and “Hempstead.”
Hemp was handled by the U.S. government like any other
agricultural crop. More than 150,000 acres of hemp were cultivated
as a part of the USDA’s “Hemp for Victory” program duringWWII.
America is one of the only industrialized nations to federally
prohibit industrial hemp farming.
Member of the House of Delegates: 2012–District 12 includes Giles,
Radford and part of Montgomery and Pulaski.
Since this magazine is read by people in
the business of writing laws, I thought you
would like to know how we were able to draft
a bill that allows parents to use marijuana oil
when marijuana is still illegal.
About 3 million Americans currently
live with epilepsy, and my neighbor’s son
suffers from a severe form, often described
as “intractable epilepsy.” He is now 22 and
has been plagued with hundreds of seizures a
year since infancy and has been placed on life
support 40 times due to his seizures being so
violent and unshakable. His parents, and other parents of children with
intractable epilepsy, learned that oil derived from the marijuana plant
(Cannabidiol Oil a.k.a. “CBD Oil” and “THC-A Oil”) has reduced
seizures in 1/3 of patients with intractable epilepsy. (Note: These oils
cannot give you a high, but since it is derived from the marijuana plant,
it was still illegal under Virginia law.)
How We Wrote HB 1445 to Allow
Marijuana Oil to Alleviate Epilepsy
By Delegate Dave Albo
With nowhere else to turn, these mothers pleaded to me and
Senator Dave Marsden (the Senate Patron of the cognate bill SB 1235)
to allow them to use the CBD and THC-A Oil for their children. I
told them, “Marijuana is illegal and the vast majority of the House
Republicans will never vote to make marijuana legal. But if you want to
accomplish this seemingly impossible task, I have a challenge for you.
If you provide the medical science in the form of medical studies from
respected journals and schools, and if every member of your parents
group speaks with their own Delegate and Senator, I will put in a bill.”
Fast forward to 2015, these mothers delivered what they promised,
and Senator Marsden and I delivered what we promised—a bill to
legalize CBD and THC-A Oil for patients with intractable epilepsy.
In House Courts, the first version of this bill went down in flames.
It was clear that the majority of members did not want to make “medical
marijuana” legal. So, how were we able to get this bill passed in a
House of Delegates that would never legalize marijuana? First, we had
to convince them that the oil works. Since the medical science on the
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