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In the meantime, Indiana farmers are struggling to stay afloat, while their plow-pushing counterparts in neighboring states, like Kentucky, have flourished as a result of a hemp industry.
Last year, Kentucky farmers (250 growers and 75 processors) generated tens of thousands of new jobs and collected $18 billion in return, according to a report from CBS-affiliate WKYT. In fact, it is U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, one of the leading gatekeepers on Capitol Hill, who is leading the charge to eliminate hemp from its Schedule I classification under the Controlled Substances Act. If this happens, industrial hemp would be legal nationwide and farmers “across the country [would be] one step closer to the certainty they need to survive such a tough agricultural economy,” McConnell said.
The economic benefits are exactly why agronomy experts like Purdue University’s Dr. Ronald Turco, say,“Indiana is missing out on a novel farm-level income stream.” The state’s hemp law presently only allows Purdue to cultivate hemp for research purposes. But “It’s time to open this up to the private sector,” Turco recently told the Journal Gazette.
Indiana farmers could be producing industrial hemp for CBD oil and various other products. This is currently bringing in around $3,000 per acre in Kentucky.
Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Some Hoosier lawmakers, like Republican Representative Jim Lucas of Seymour, the man responsible for introducing last session’s crucified hemp measure, would also like to see Indiana jump out of the trenches of marijuana prohibition.
After a recent visit to Colorado, which was one of the first states to legalize the leaf for recreational consumption, Lucas told reporters that seeing a taxed and regulated pot market “removed all doubt… that this is the right thing to do for Indiana.”
Although his trip was not necessarily focused on the financial implications of the state’s pot laws, there are plenty of reasons to believe that legal weed would be good for Hoosier farmers.
A report released earlier this year shows that cannabis legalization has been a salvation’s wing for cities with struggling economies. Taking into account a town like Pueblo, Colorado, which was ravaged by the collapse of the steel industry, the study found that legal weed had an economic impact of around $58 million in 2016. Researchers predict this number will hit $100 million within the next few years.
Indiana, where the economy is just now starting to experience a slow recovery, could see some real prosperity again if the agricultural trade was given a mega-boost through the legalization of industrial hemp or cannabis.
However, state lawmakers are not likely to buy into the concept of recreational marijuana anytime soon. And neither will the governor, for that matter.
But Indiana will be forced to welcome in some level of marijuana reform in the near future — maybe sooner than later.
Aside from presently bordering three medical marijuana states (Illinois, Michigan, Ohio), Michigan is expected to legalize for recreational purposes in November. And depending on the outcome of the gubernatorial election in Illinois (if Democrat JB Pritzer wins), the Land of Lincoln could soon join the fun – selling weed to adults 21 and older in a manner similar to beer. If these two developments come together, Indiana state and local law enforcement agencies will run themselves ragged trying to enforce marijuana prohibition laws. Just ask the beaten officials in Oklahoma and Nebraska.
Indiana’s industrial hemp debate will undoubtedly get rolling again when the General Assembly reconvenes in 2019. And whether Hoosier lawmakers and Governor Holcomb like it or not, the marijuana discussion may also need to enter into the equation.
Mike Adams is a contributing writer for Forbes, Cannabis Now and BroBible. His work has also appeared in High Times. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
I am a freelance writer hailing from the darkest depths of the armpit of America. That’s Southern Indiana, just in case you were wondering. When I’m not carving out a…MORE
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In the meantime, Indiana farmers are struggling to stay afloat, while their plow-pushing counterparts in neighboring states, like Kentucky, have flourished as a result of a hemp industry.
Last year, Kentucky farmers (250 growers and 75 processors) generated tens of thousands of new jobs and collected $18 billion in return, according to a report from CBS-affiliate WKYT. In fact, it is U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, one of the leading gatekeepers on Capitol Hill, who is leading the charge to eliminate hemp from its Schedule I classification under the Controlled Substances Act. If this happens, industrial hemp would be legal nationwide and farmers “across the country [would be] one step closer to the certainty they need to survive such a tough agricultural economy,” McConnell said.
The economic benefits are exactly why agronomy experts like Purdue University’s Dr. Ronald Turco, say,“Indiana is missing out on a novel farm-level income stream.” The state’s hemp law presently only allows Purdue to cultivate hemp for research purposes. But “It’s time to open this up to the private sector,” Turco recently told the Journal Gazette.
Indiana farmers could be producing industrial hemp for CBD oil and various other products. This is currently bringing in around $3,000 per acre in Kentucky.
Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Some Hoosier lawmakers, like Republican Representative Jim Lucas of Seymour, the man responsible for introducing last session’s crucified hemp measure, would also like to see Indiana jump out of the trenches of marijuana prohibition.
After a recent visit to Colorado, which was one of the first states to legalize the leaf for recreational consumption, Lucas told reporters that seeing a taxed and regulated pot market “removed all doubt… that this is the right thing to do for Indiana.”
Although his trip was not necessarily focused on the financial implications of the state’s pot laws, there are plenty of reasons to believe that legal weed would be good for Hoosier farmers.
A report released earlier this year shows that cannabis legalization has been a salvation’s wing for cities with struggling economies. Taking into account a town like Pueblo, Colorado, which was ravaged by the collapse of the steel industry, the study found that legal weed had an economic impact of around $58 million in 2016. Researchers predict this number will hit $100 million within the next few years.
Indiana, where the economy is just now starting to experience a slow recovery, could see some real prosperity again if the agricultural trade was given a mega-boost through the legalization of industrial hemp or cannabis.
However, state lawmakers are not likely to buy into the concept of recreational marijuana anytime soon. And neither will the governor, for that matter.
But Indiana will be forced to welcome in some level of marijuana reform in the near future — maybe sooner than later.
Aside from presently bordering three medical marijuana states (Illinois, Michigan, Ohio), Michigan is expected to legalize for recreational purposes in November. And depending on the outcome of the gubernatorial election in Illinois (if Democrat JB Pritzer wins), the Land of Lincoln could soon join the fun – selling weed to adults 21 and older in a manner similar to beer. If these two developments come together, Indiana state and local law enforcement agencies will run themselves ragged trying to enforce marijuana prohibition laws. Just ask the beaten officials in Oklahoma and Nebraska.
Indiana’s industrial hemp debate will undoubtedly get rolling again when the General Assembly reconvenes in 2019. And whether Hoosier lawmakers and Governor Holcomb like it or not, the marijuana discussion may also need to enter into the equation.
Mike Adams is a contributing writer for Forbes, Cannabis Now and BroBible. His work has also appeared in High Times. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
I am a freelance writer hailing from the darkest depths of the armpit of America. That’s Southern Indiana, just in case you were wondering. When I’m not carving out a…MORE
Also on Forbes Vices
How One Company Uses Deep Learning to Solve The Challenges of Delivering World-Class Railway Logistics
NVIDIA BrandVoice: How One Company Uses Deep Learning to Solve The Challenges of Delivering World-Class Railway Logistics
CARS & BIKES#DeLuxe
Lexus Reveals The LY 650 Luxury Yacht
Lexus Reveals The LY 650 Luxury Yacht
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