By: Associated Press//October 18, 2017//
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The state Senate’s agriculture committee has approved a bill that would allow Wisconsin farmers to grow hemp.
The panel voted unanimously Wednesday to recommend that the proposal be adopted by the full Legislature. The vote clears the way for a floor vote in the Senate.
The bill would set up state licenses for farmers looking to grow industrial hemp. People with drug convictions wouldn’t be eligible for the licenses and farmers wouldn’t be allowed to raise plants in which THC made up more than 1 percent of the total composition, the active ingredient in marijuana.
At least 30 states, including Minnesota, Michigan and Illinois, have passed legislation allowing hemp farms. The Wisconsin bill’s supporters say hemp has a wide range of uses and Wisconsin farmers should have the option of growing a profitable crop.