Virginia House Votes 98 to 0 to Legalize Hemp
Yesterday Virginia’s full House of Delegates passed a bill to legalize the cultivation and production of hemp. The vote was a unanimous 98 to 0.
House Bill 699, introduced by Delegate Brenda Pogge (R-Norge), would end the state’s prohibition on industrial hemp farming, while mandating that the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services “adopt regulations as necessary to license persons to grow and process industrial hemp for any purpose.”
In Virginia, thanks to a law passed last year, cultivating hemp for research purposes is legal; HB 699 would expand this to allow cultivating hemp for commercial and personal purposes.
“No person licensed pursuant to § 3.2-4115 or 3.2-4117 shall be prosecuted under § 18.2-247, 18.2-248, 18.2-248.01, 18.2-248.1, 18.2-250, or18.2-250.1 for the possession, cultivation or manufacture of industrial hemp plant material and seeds or industrial hemp products”, states the bill.
“This will make Virginia one of the leaders in being ‘Open for Hemp Business’ very soon”, says Jason Amatucci, founder of the Virginia Industrial Hemp Coalition. “It will take 3-5 years to get the hemp industry really up and going and this is yet another great step.”
– TheJointBlog
Ira hanie
I find this very interesting for Virginia. I want to know how I can get involved in this I have around 100 acres of prime Virginia farm land that I would be interested in putting into hemp production.
Anonymous
Join our Coalition (VIHC) and we can lead you in the right direction and you can network with our members.
http://vahemp.org/membership
https://www.gofundme.com/7mk3oc
Jefferey
there are many so products that are made with toxic chemicals that could be made with hemp without the use of toxic chemicals it is hard to imagine why this plant was ever prohibited.