BUCKINGHAM – During its December 10 meeting, the Buckingham County Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted a Resolution of Support Urging Congress to Adopt the Industrial Hemp Farming Act.

According to the wording in the resolution, “The Industrial Hemp Farming Act (House Resolution 1831) has been introduced in Congress with the intention of removing Industrial Hemp as a Schedule 1 controlled substance under the Controlled Substance Act and allowing state legislatures to license and regulate the commercial production of hemp as an industrial and agricultural commodity.”

The action followed a presentation that Supervisor Cassandra Stish requested her fellow board members hear.

During her introduction of the speaker, Jim Politis, Chair of the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors, Stish explained that she met him while serving on the Virginia Association of Counties' Steering Committee for Agricultural and Environmental Issues.

Stish shared that Politis presented a resolution to VACO seeking its support to request that the state ask the federal government to allow Virginia farmers to grow industrial hemp for industrial and personal care products.

Noting that the steering committee supported that policy position, Stish said Politis was now making the rounds to boards and planning district commissions across the state in an effort to gather support for the resolution.

Politis began by noting that he has been involved in the project for approximately three years. He said his initial involvement was due to the crop's ability to create so many jobs.

Offering that although many parts of the state are not experiencing high unemployment rates, Politis said areas like Martinsville and Danville are experiencing some of the worst unemployment rates in the country. He said he feels industrial hemp is a product that can help both the textile industry and the building industry.

Politis, using a PowerPoint presentation, shared that industrial hemp was widely cultivated in Europe in the mid-16th century for porridge, for food, and fiber, to produce fabric.

He explained that the original use of industrial hemp in North America is attributed to Puritans in New England who used the fiber for the production of cloth and household fabric.

According to Politis, there was a strong demand for cordage and sailcloth in North America during the mid-19th century that peaked hemp's production in the United States.

Continuing, Politis said WWII prompted the USDA to finance production of seed and fiber. By 1943, production increased to 12,450 tons of processed fiber on approximately 30,000 acres but then in the following year dropped to 4,950 tons from approximately 11,000 acres, he shared.

After WWII, the production of industrial hemp ceased in the U.S., stated Politis. He added that the regulation was transferred to the Drug Enforcement Agency through the Controlled Substance Act.

Noting that in 1999, the American Farm Bureau changed its position to supporting research and domestic cultivation of industrial hemp, Politis said it differs vastly from marijuana in the content of THC, which he described as a psychoactive chemical.

“Marijuana cultivars typically contain three to 15 percent THC and industrial hemp contains less than three/tenths of one percent,” stated Politis.

Moving to the next slide, Politis said the advantages to raising industrial hemp include that it is very cost effective and environmentally friendly; pest resistant, requiring little or no pesticides; a natural herbicide that smothers weeds when grown at a high density; and, absorbs carbon dioxide five-times more efficiently than the same acreage of forest.

He added that in the 1800s and in the 1900s, farmers in Virginia planted hemp around their cabbage fields to deter pests and fungi.

Focusing on industrial hemp in China, Politis said that country produces about 40 percent of the world's fiber supply and about 80 percent of the world's seed supply. He added, “China plans to increase the current 50,000 acres of production to one-plus million acres. This would reduce their textile industry's dependence on cotton, freeing large areas of cotton-growing land for food production needed to support China's population.”

Politis told supervisors that 32 countries, including Canada, Great Britain, France, and China allow farmers to grow industrial hemp.

He said the primary markets for European produced industrial hemp include specialty pulp bank notes and similar applications that require its high tear and wet strengths; developing composite materials for automotives; developing construction and thermal insulation; and, clothing, body care products and foods.

His next slide offered a flow chart of the variety of uses for industrial hemp. Divided into two main categories-whole stalk with subheadings for bast fiber and hurd (woody core); and, hemp seed with subheadings of hemp nut, hemp oil, and seed cake.

Politis talked about the nutritional value of industrial hemp seed and added that industrial hemp is also used in the manufacturing of automobiles.

Reiterating that industrial hemp could be used to revitalize areas in the United States that have lost jobs in tobacco, textiles, and furniture manufacturing, Politis said the current hemp market in North America is estimated to be over $450 million in annual sales. He added, “The United States consumes approximately 50 percent of all the hemp products that are made. And every part of the hemp that we have to buy has to come from another country. We can't grow it here.”

Politis explained that growing and producing industrial hemp in the United States would require Congress and the President to pass a law transferring industrial hemp regulation from the U. S. Drug Enforcement Agency to the Department of Agriculture.

According to Politis, thus far resolutions of support have been adopted by the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors, New River Valley Economic Development Alliance, Montgomery County Chamber, Montgomery County Economic Development Commission, Town of Blacksburg, and the City of Charlottesville.

“What I am asking is for adoption (of the resolution) to provide opportunities for farmers, businesses and entrepreneurs to invest in industrial hemp,” stated Politis.

“I would like to urge the 112th Congress to adopt the Industrial Hemp Farming Act, which is HR1831, and grant states authority to license and regulate the hemp production as an industrial and agricultural commodity,” he shared.

When he asked if there were any questions, County Administrator Rebecca Carter asked if the Virginia Farm Bureau has taken a stance on industrial hemp.

At that point, Sammy Smith, who was seated in the audience, asked to speak as a representative of the Farm Bureau at the county and state level.

Before Smith made his way to the podium, Supervisor Bill Talbert offered, “I've been for growing hemp in Buckingham since all the tobacco is gone as a crop for the farmers. I'm for it 100 percent.”

Smith, with a copy of the minutes from the Virginia Farm Bureau convention in his hand, read, “We at America Farm Bureau support crop research and market development and legalization of the production of all fiber crops including but not limited to low-grade industrial hemp.” He continued, “Then, the second note says, 'No legislative action took place in 2012.'”

Continuing, Smith stated, “The farmers in Buckingham have voted to back industrial hemp. The farmers in the State of Virginia have backed industrial hemp. And, the national convention last year, and all the way back to 1999, have backed industrial hemp. So yes, Mrs. Carter, we have endorsed it.”

Politis added that growing industrial hemp would be regulated by permit, which could require that the seeds be certified. He said that precautions like those taken in Canada could require testing of field samples.

Supervisor Donnie Bryan questioned, “It looks like marijuana, right?”

Politis replied, “It looks like it. It's the same species to a point. Marijuana is cetiva and industrial hemp is cetiva-L. But the main difference is how you plant it.”

He explained, “When you plant a marijuana plant, you want a lot of leaf and flower so you plant it approximately one plant per square foot. When you are growing hemp for seed, you want a little bit of bush on top and you plant 30 plants per square foot. When you are planting hemp for fiber, you plant up to 60 plants per square foot. So the density can give them an idea that you are not growing marijuana.”

Stish interjected, “I think it will be a non-issue, ultimately.”

Subsequently, Stish led with the motion to adopt the Resolution of Support as proposed by Politis.

With a second by Talbert, the motion drew the board's unanimous support. Supervisor Danny Allen was absent.

Following the vote, Talbert, addressing BCSO Chief Deputy Roger Jamerson who was in the back of the auditorium, offered, “We are not voting to legalize marijuana. You get enough hemp in here; nobody will be growing marijuana because there won't be room.”