Legislature Considers Legalizing Commercial Hemp

By Jake Zuckerman Both chambers of the Legislature sent separate proposals to the floor Wednesday pushing for the legalization of commercial hemp production in West Virginia. Hemp, a variety of the cannabis sativa crop, often is associated with marijuana. However, the new legislation trumpets hemp's industrial uses. The proposals state so long as the crop stays below a 1 percent threshold of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive component of marijuana, it can be produced after receiving licensing from the Agriculture Commissioner. At its meeting Wednesday, the Senate Agriculture Committee sent Senate Resolution 35 up to the chamber floor. That resolution, if passed through the House of Delegates as well, works as a call from the Legislature to the U.S.