Maine’s legislators over-rode the state Governor’s veto to make growing industrial hemp legal for Maine farmers effective immediately. Farmers, organic growers, agricultural researchers and community members threw their support behind the bill, which opens new opportunities for farmers and would provide local sourcing for many products made from hemp. Read the legal statute.
Hemp fibers can be used in making textiles, paper, insulation, building materials and composites for auto bodies. Hemp is controversial because hemp fibers and marijuana come from the same family of plants, which is why hemp still is considered a drug under federal law.
Learn about the history of hemp and how it was the first crop used to pay tax to England by our forefather’s when the US was but a colony by reading our comprehensive article.
Three states — Colorado, Kentucky and Vermont — have legalized industrial hemp and have research crops planted, according to Vote Hemp, an organization seeking the full normalization of and a free market for industrial hemp in the United States.
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