FARGO (KFGO-AM) - Industrial hemp could be grown legally in North Dakota this spring, for the first time since World War II.
Representative Dave Monson of Osnabrock is the prime sponsor of a bill that allows the Agriculture Department and NDSU to oversee research and production of industrial hemp. That's a requirement in a provision of the new farm bill, ending a long-standing ban on hemp production under federal drug laws.
Monson, a long time supporter of hemp production, says 15 years ago, he predicted states would legalize marijuana use before industrial hemp and he's not surprised that actually happened. The weed is a distant cousin of marijuana but does not contain the active ingredient that produces a high.
Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring says his office will oversee the licensing and reporting requirements that include monitoring and testing of the hemp. It's used in everything from clothes to constructon materials and livestock feed.
There are now 19 states that have established laws that allow hemp research and production under the farm bill's conditions.