Alison St John (Guest Host): Maybe you've seen the hemp cereals in the whole food store, or the hemp and cotton clothes in the boutiques. But you won’t see hemp growing in the fields, not in California.
Hemp is banned from agricultural production in the United States because it looks too much like marijuana. Law enforcement officials are adamantly opposed to legalizing hemp cultivation, in spite of the fact that its fibers, seeds and oils are already being legally imported to make numerous products sold in U.S. stores.
Are American farmers being denied the chance to grow a legal cash crop that is making money for farmers in Canada and Europe?
State Assemblyman Mark Leno wants to change the law. He has a bill to legalize cultivation of hemp in California, and the bill stands a good chance of making it to Governor Schwarzenegger's desk.
Guests
- Mark Leno , democratic state assembly member representing California's 13 th District who co-authored the bill allowing California farmers to grow industrial hemp.
- John Lovell, legislative lobbyist for the California Narcotics Officers Association who opposes the legislation.
- Patrick Goggin, California counsel for the Hemp Industries Association (HIA), and member of the board of directors for Vote Hemp , the national lobbying arm for the hemp industry.
