HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut farmers could soon be growing or cultivating industrial hemp, a plant many lawmakers predict will become a money-making crop for the state.
The Senate voted unanimously Thursday in favor of legislation requiring the Connecticut Department of Agriculture to establish a pilot program for growing or cultivating industrial hemp now that the federal government has recently allowed states to grow, use or sell the product, which proponents say has thousands of uses.
Connecticut’s new hemp regulations will ultimately need federal approval.
Democratic Sen. Christine Cohen, of Guilford, cities Connecticut Farm Bureau Association estimates that an acre of hemp is worth $37,000 to $150,000, which she says “is real money for the farmers, for manufacturers and, hallelujah, the state of Connecticut.”
The bill now awaits action by the House of Representatives.
–Associated Press
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