Tennessee might join other states that have removed hemp prohibition at the state level, at least that’s what one Tennessee Senator wants to see happen. Tennessee Senator Frank Niceley, a Republican from Strawberry Fields, says he is drafting a bill that legalize hemp production in Kentucky. Hemp is a crop that farmers nationwide would love to grow, especially in Tennessee. Hemp can be used to make plastics, insulation, paper, foods, clothes, and many, many other things.
The biggest hurdle facing hemp legalization in Tennessee is the fact that politicians don’t realize that hemp is not the same as marijuana.
“Their biggest fear is that, if they support hemp, people will think they support marijuana,” Niceley said, according to The Tennessean. “That’s a cousin of hemp, but cornbread is a cousin of moonshine.”
Hemp prohibition provides no benefit to anyone. A person can’t get high from hemp, so any money that is spent enforcing hemp prohibition is wasted. And even if one farmer can make one dollar from hemp production, considering it doesn’t harm anyone, they should be allowed to do so. To say otherwise would be bad public policy…Que the quote from reefer madness supporter Jon Lundberg, a Tennessee Representative from Bristol:
“On occasion, Sen. Niceley does things for political reasons more than for good policy,” Lundberg said, according to The Tennessean. Mr. Lundberg, can you please explain how supporting farmers who want to grow hemp is not ‘good policy?’ It’s pretty obvious who is doing things for political reasons.
