Hemp Planting for Spring Pt 2

With today's Fruit Grower Report, I'm Bob Larson. With expectations of planting the first Industrial Hemp seeds in the Spring, the state wants to make it clear, this is different from its recreational cousin.

State Hemp Coordinator Emily Febles says that's why the state treats them both very differently ...

EMILY FEBLES-HS-1 = 24 sec ... "I feel like there's been an important separation between, sort of, I-502 marijuana and industrial hemp. The WSDA is over industrial hemp, which is the department of agriculture, whereas in the liquor and cannabis control board is over I-502 marijuana, that kind of stuff. So there's this separation between the two programs and we're trying to treat industrial hemp very much like any other agricultural crop."

Febles says it's an important distinction because the federal drug enforcement agency still classifies hemp as a federally controlled substance on par with heroin ...

EMILY FEBLES ... "So federally it's legal, but only under approved pilot programs like the state of Washington has set up. So there's this little carved out legal niche for industrial hemp pilot programs in the federal farm bill and then of course there's the state law that was just passed this year. So under both of those regimes, industrial hemp is legal just not outside of a pilot program."

Febles says the State Department of Agriculture has applied with the DEA for permission to import hemp seeds and expects the first planting to come in the Spring.

For more information, you can email the program at hemp @ agr.wa.gov.