I write in response to a Feb. 16 letter questioning our ability to grow industrial hemp on Maui. I want to bring to light some information that, perhaps, the letter writer was not privy to.
In 1999, under a research permit, David P. West, Ph.D., headed the Hawai’i Industrial Hemp Research Project. He concluded, “In this project I was able to demonstrate that the genetic potential exists within the world’s hemp germplasm to create a variety of hemp capable of growing in a few months in a tropical environment a forest of 10 foot plants to provide fiber to any of a long list of industries. I had the plants; I showed it could be done.”
Industrial hemp has now been legally defined federally, unlike other strains of cannabis, as a nondrug. As of April 4, the Industrial Hemp Bill (SB 2175) has made its way through the Senate and House committee hearings with unanimous support.
U.S. hemp imports are estimated at over $500 million in annual retail sales and growing. Hemp supplies materials for surfboards, homes, food, and as a rotation crop to help cleanse the soil from toxins.
Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co., with 36,000 acres on Maui, should soon have an opportunity to grow this important, beneficial and potentially profitable crop legally.
Denise Key
Kihei
Growing of industrial hemp is feasible on Maui
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