HEMP, HEMP HOORAY!

NEWS RELEASE –for immediate release
December 20, 2018

Senate Contact: Senator Mike Gabbard 808-586-6830

HEMP, HEMP HOORAY!

Honolulu, HI – President Trump signed the 2018 Farm Bill into law today, which included removal of industrial hemp from the Schedule 1 Controlled Substance List, thus legalizing it and paving the way for a successful hemp industry in Hawai’i.

Senator Mike Gabbard, Chair of the Senate Agriculture and Environment Committee, said "It's been a long time coming since Governor, Ben Cayetano, declared December 14, 1999 as 'Industrial Hemp Day of Hawai‘i.' Since that time, I've authored four hemp bills that have become law, including Act 228 (2016), which established a 5-year industrial hemp pilot program. Today, there are farmers growing hemp statewide under the pilot program and the potential benefits that this amazing plant offers for our economy, sustainable agriculture, environment, and human health are truly incredible."
"My vision has been for a cottage hemp industry using Hawai‘i branding, with the hula girl underneath the coconut tree and the guy strumming his ‘ukulele... Hāna hemp granola - Hanalei hemp toothpaste - Honolulu hemp aloha shirts - and Hawai‘i Island hemp CBD tincture, are just some of the many products that could be coming our way."

The signing of the 2018 Farm Bill signals a great leap forward for our state and nation in realizing the benefits of keeping an estimated annual $820 million in retail value of hemp products that we can be growing and producing here.