Industrial Hemp Law signed in Pennsylvania
Another monumental event has occurred in the cannabis industry, this time in support of hemp. Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf recently signed a new law that will help jump start his state’s hemp industry.
House Bill 967, now Act 92, allows the Agriculture Department and higher education institutions to grow hemp plants for use in research. The department estimates that it will cost around $500,000 to conduct hemp research during the first year. Although the bill will not allow hemp growth right off the bat, it will pave the way for the future of commercial hemp production.
Pennsylvania’s leading crop during the 18th and 19th centuries was hemp, and it was grown mainly for its beneficial fibers, but its growth declined drastically after the plant was made illegal to grow in the 1950s. It seems that hemp’s history in Pennsylvania is finally making a comeback, “William Penn himself was an advocate of hemp growth, and in 1683, one of the first laws passed by the General Assembly in Pennsylvania was a law to encourage every farmer to grow hemp,” states Governor Wolf. “The U.S. industrial hemp industry has been estimated at over $500 million in annual retail sales and is still growing. Supporting this industry in Pennsylvania is a smart investment in the commonwealth’s economy.”
Just three months ago, Pennsylvania legalized cannabis for medical use. Now with the arrival of hemp research, hemp will be able to slowly but surely make its way back into the successful crops of Pennsylvania.
