Washington State legislators sent to the governor a bill that would allow licensed farmers to grow industrial hemp as part of a research program to be run by Washington State University, reports the Associated Press. WSU would “study if widespread hemp production in the state is feasible and if there’s a market for it,” with a report due to the legislature in January 2017. “The state Department of Agriculture would supervise the program and license growers, among other duties.”
Broadcaster KXRO-FM in Grays Harbor quotes a supporter of the legislation, state Rep. Christopher Hurst, a retired police detective, as saying, “At one point in time, it [hemp] was our second-largest crop. This is a very significant piece of legislation; we will have crops in the ground this spring.” WXRO says hemp can be used to make cloth, rope, food, medicine, jewelry, paper and “even biodiesel fuel.”