{"id":7301,"date":"2017-03-22T05:17:13","date_gmt":"2017-03-22T05:17:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/?p=5961"},"modified":"2017-03-22T05:17:13","modified_gmt":"2017-03-22T05:17:13","slug":"arkansas-lawmakers-to-legalize-hemp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/arkansas-lawmakers-to-legalize-hemp\/","title":{"rendered":"Arkansas Lawmakers To Legalize Hemp"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/arkansas-lawmakers-to-legalize-hemp\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><p>Little Rock, Ark. &#8212; A push is on at the state legislature to legalize an industrial cousin to the marijuana plant that proponents say could be a huge benefit to the state&#8217;s economy.<\/p>\n<p>Hemp can be used to make everything from biofuels to clothing. It&#8217;s been illegal in Arkansas since the 1930&#8217;s when marijuana was first outlawed even though hemp only contains trace amounts of the psychoactive compound THC.<\/p>\n<p>Friday, a state house committee took the first step to change that.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s actually one of the fastest growing crops from seed to harvest,&#8221; explains Nicholas Dial, a biology graduate student at the University of Central Arkansas whose spent the last four years studying plants.<\/p>\n<p>Across Arkansas&#8217;s eastern border, more than a thousand acres of hemp are being grown in Tennessee. It&#8217;s one of nearly 30 states to allow the crop after the 2014 federal farm bill made it legal under certain circumstances.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;One special thing that&#8217;s really amazing about industrial help is just the sheer amount of versatility that the crop has,&#8221; Dial said.<\/p>\n<p>The hemp stalk can be used to make clothing products, animal bedding, concrete and insulation. Cosmetics and medicines are made from its seeds.<\/p>\n<p>But because it is related to its more controversial cousin &#8212; marijuana &#8212; hemp has always carried a stigma.<\/p>\n<p>State Rep. David Hillman, R-Almyra, is a south Arkansas farmer who says he was initially skeptical about supporting hemp legalization in Arkansas.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The more that I learned about it, the uses of it and the things that it can do to help me on my farm, I really got excited about it,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>Hillman says hemp profits per acre can be six times that of rice.<\/p>\n<p>On Friday, hemp proponents were at the state capitol to promote a bill allowing Arkansas farmers to grow it. They also educated lawmakers about what it&#8217;s not.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;You can smoke a whole acre of hemp and you&#8217;re not gonna be getting high off of it,&#8221; Dial said. <\/p>\n<p>Friday, the house committee on agriculture, forestry and economic development unanimously passed the bill legalizing hemp production in the state.<\/p>\n<p>The bill will now be considered by the full house.<\/p>\n<p> <img src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/arkansas-lawmakers-to-legalize-hemp.PNG\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\"> <\/p>\n<p>News Moderator: Katelyn Baker <a href=\"http:\/\/www.420magazine.com\" target=\"_blank\">420 MAGAZINE \u00ae<\/a><br \/>\nFull Article: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.arkansasmatters.com\/news\/local-news\/ark-lawmakers-take-first-step-to-legalize-hemp\/674234656\" target=\"_blank\">Arkansas Lawmakers Take First Step To Legalize Hemp<\/a><br \/>\nAuthor: Drew Petrimoulx<br \/>\nContact: 501-340-4444<br \/>\nPhoto Credit: None Found<br \/>\nWebsite: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.arkansasmatters.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Arkansas Matters<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Little Rock, Ark. &#8212; A push is on at the state legislature to legalize an industrial cousin to the marijuana&#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/2017\/03\/arkansas-lawmakers-legalize-hemp\/\" class=\"read-more\">[Read More]<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1607,9,1,3],"tags":[4175],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7301"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7301\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}