CA NORML News

Sacramento, Oct. 11th, 2007: For the second year in a row, Gov. Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill to permit industrial cultivation of hemp. The bill was sponsored by Assemblymen Mark Leno (S.F.) and Chuck DeVore (Irvine).

The measure would have established a demonstration program for state-licensed farmers to cultivate hemp as an economic product. Text of AB 684

In his veto message the Governor expressed concern that the measure would violate federal law and interfere with the ability of law enforcement to carry on marijuana eradication.

According to a 2005 Congressional Resource Service (CRS) report, the United States is the only developed nation that fails to cultivate industrial hemp as an economic crop. Hemp is a distinct variety of the plant species cannabis sativa that contains only minute (less than 1%) amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. Farmers worldwide grow hemp commercially for fiber, seed, and oil for use in a variety of industrial and consumer products, including food and clothing.