OHIO:  For the first time in two generations, the Industrial Hemp crop has been legally harvested in Kentucky. The hemp plots were grown in compliance with Kentucky state law and in accordance with Sec. 7606 of the 2014 US Farm Bill (Agricultural Act of 2014) that authorized hemp cultivation for research purposes in states that permit Hemp farming.

The agricultural excitement spurred some of Ohio’s long-time hemp advocates to travel south to meet the farmers and gain first-hand experience with the plant that cannabis prohibition has kept out of American fields until very recently. In votes often favoring Hemp by wide margins, 20 states have legalized the crop, defining it as Cannabis Sativa L., having .03 percent THC or less (no drug/narcotic value). The reforms are welcome in Kentucky, where tobacco growers are hurting for alternative crops.

Even with the non-drug status being declared federally, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) seized viable hemp seed en route to Kentucky from Italy, as outdated policy under the Controlled Substances Act doesn’t recognize the scientifically-demonstrated chemical distinctions between “marihuana,” a Schedule I narcotic, and hemp, a viable agricultural cash crop commodity. Kentucky sued the DEA to release the seeds, and prevailed in federal court, allowing the research plots to proceed.

The Ohio Hemp Chamber of Commerce (OHCC), which planned the Kentucky hemp farm tour for its members, sees the DEA actions as more motivation to clear up the lingering misunderstandings about the ancient crop. For Jeremy Koosed, owner of Plant Kingdom Bakery in Lyndhurst, Ohio, clarifying the non-drug status is an urgent matter.