FRANKFORT, Ky. - State lawmakers have approved a bill to allow a regulatory framework to be set up for industrial hemp in Kentucky, if the crop is legalized at the federal level.
Senate Bill 50 will give control of licensing of future hemp farmers to the state’s Industrial Hemp Commission, while allowing Kentucky State Police to do background checks on the farmers.
The Department of Agriculture will oversee many administrative roles involved in industrial hemp.
“I’m very excited,” said state Agriculture Commissioner James Comer, who has spent the past several months advocating for industrial hemp. “Our next step now is to go to Washington DC and let Congressman Yarmuth and Senator Paul lead a delegation and hopefully we will be granted a waiver to do a pilot project very soon in Kentucky.”
The deal was struck in the last hour of the 2013 legislative session.
