Interest in hemp grows in S.C., while Georgia takes a pass

A new bill in the South Carolina Legislature is the latest sign that the smaller state may be more progressive than Georgia on matters of hemp.

A Republican state senator introduced a proposal Dec. 10 that would make it lawful in South Carolina to grow the plant, which is a variety of cannabis.

Although its odds of passage are hard to gauge before lawmakers return to the capitol next month, Tom Murphy of the nonprofit Vote Hemp said bills like South Carolina’s have an advantage: They go before agriculture committees, where lawmakers are knowledgeable about crops, if not farmers themselves.

“They know you cannot do wishful agriculture,” he said. “Planting industrial hemp and hoping to get marijuana is like planting sweet corn and hoping to get popcorn.”

Murphy said the law enforcement community presents the central opposition to hemp legislation.

Still, if the bill, S. 839, became law in South Carolina, farming would have to wait.

It’s not illegal to grow hemp under federal law. But the there are tight restrictions on its production, which requires a permit from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

But bills like South Carolina’s still represent progress to Vote Hemp members. States pushing industrial hemp legislation are getting themselves in position and sending a signal to federal lawmakers to change the laws, said Murphy.

He pointed to two efforts in Congress that would free up states. The farm bill could be amended to allow institutions of higher education to do research and development on hemp, if their states have already legalized hemp farming.

The Industrial Hemp Farming Act is another front. It would remove hemp from the definition of marijuana in the Controlled Substances Act.

Even if South Carolina lawmakers debate the hemp bill next year, the regional agriculture community may remain quiet. Reggie Hall, an official with the SC Farm Bureau Federation, said hemp wasn’t raised at two large meetings, including one this month in Myrtle Beach.

“That issue didn’t come up at all,” Hall said. “But that doesn’t mean it’s not on some farmers’ mind.”

The organization itself has no position on hemp, which is used in fabrics, paper, home furnishings, cosmetics and foods. The bureau also had no research indicating if it could be a cash crop for South Carolina farmers. Bill sponsor, Sen. Kevin Bryant, R-Anderson, did not return messages last week.

In Hall’s view, hemp may offer no edge over traditional crops, but could provide a niche market for some farmers.

Vote Hemp has tallied almost three-dozen states that have introduced “pro-hemp” legislation, including 20 that have passed bills. Georgia has yet to introduce any, according to Vote Hemp and the Georgia Department of Agriculture.

Meanwhile, South Carolina tried to create a hemp study committee in 2007 with a resolution by Rep. Bill Herbkersman, R-Bluffton.

The lawmaker is the chairman of the Jasper County legislative delegation.

“I’m very interested in it,” he said in an email Saturday. “The study committee went nowhere, as most tend to do.”

But Herbkersman added: “What a great added job creator that would be!”

Hemp has piqued some curiosity across the Savannah River.

“We have fielded several inquiries from citizens over the years, but there have been no strong pushes that we are aware of,” Georgia Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Mary Kathryn Yearta said.

As for whether there’s potential in South Carolina, Hall said there are farmers who are always eager to diversify and discover new markets. He pointed to switchgrass, which has been touted as a source of biofuel in recent years.

But hemp isn’t switchgrass.

“We can see how a bill like the proposed hemp legislation could become stalled because of the historical and botanical similarities between industrial hemp and its association with marijuana,” Hall said.

WHAT IS HEMP?

Hemp is a variety of cannabis grown as an agricultural crop for seeds and fiber, and byproducts such as oil and seed cake. It has a small amount of marijuana’s primary psychoactive chemical, THC (delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol) — about 1 percent, compared to marijuana, which can have 10 percent or greater than 30 percent.

WHO WANTS HEMP MILK?

Hemp is on the rise. At least products that contain it. Sales of hemp-based foods and personal care products are growing. Thats’s according to industry information a Congressional Research Service report cited in July. The report said sales of hemp milk and related dairy alternatives are partly driving the increases in hemp specialty foods. The stores the Whole Foods Market and The Body Shop are two major markets for hemp products. The U.S. retail value of hemp products last year was nearly $500 million, according to the Hemp Industries Association.