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A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY BOARD OF REGENTS TO

STUDY THE VIABILITY OF A LEGAL HEMP INDUSTRY; URGING CONGRESS

TO RECOGNIZE INDUSTRIAL HEMP AS A VALUABLE AGRICULTURAL

COMMODITY AND TO TAKE CERTAIN OTHER ACTIONS.

WHEREAS, industrial hemp refers to varieties of Cannabis

that have less than three-tenths of one percent

tetrahydrocannabinol, are genetically distinct from drug

varieties of Cannabis and are cultivated exclusively for

fiber, stalk and seed; and

WHEREAS, industrial hemp should not be confused with

varieties of Cannabis that have high concentrations of

tetrahydrocannabinol and are commonly referred to as

marijuana; and

WHEREAS, industrial hemp is commercially produced in

more than thirty nations, including Canada, Great Britain,

France, Germany, Romania, Australia and China; and

WHEREAS, annual sales of hemp food in the United States

are growing rapidly and industrial hemp seed prices are good

and yield is medium to high; and

WHEREAS, in Canada, without irrigation, eight hundred

pounds of seed per acre is average, and with irrigation,

yields may increase to one thousand six hundred to two

thousand pounds per acre; and

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WHEREAS, industrial hemp is a high-value, low-input crop

that is not genetically modified, requires no pesticides, can

be dryland farmed and uses less fertilizer than wheat and

corn; and

WHEREAS, many farmers view industrial hemp as a

versatile and valuable agricultural commodity that will have

long-term economic benefits to the farmers who produce the

hemp and the persons who use hemp in the production of twine,

rope, textiles, paper products, building materials, including

plywood, concrete, insulation and roofing, animal bedding,

automobile parts, plastics, fuel, including biodiesel and

butanol, cosmetics, foods, nutritional supplements, body care

products and more;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF

REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the New Mexico

state university board of regents be urged to undertake an

in-depth economic analysis study that will address the

viability of a legal hemp industry in New Mexico. The New

Mexico state university board of regents is urged to review

the long-term impacts of a permitted hemp industry and the

costs of establishing proper permitting and licensing

procedures. The economic analysis study shall attempt to

determine the costs and benefits associated with encouraging

economic development in various areas, including textiles,

pulping products for paper, biocomposites and building

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materials, animal bedding, nutritional products for livestock,

industries related to seed extraction and resins for potential

biofuels, lubricants, paints and inks, cosmetics, body care

products and nutritional supplements; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the United States congress

be urged to recognize industrial hemp as a valuable

agriculture commodity, to define industrial hemp in federal

law as a non-psychoactive and genetically identifiable species

of the genus Cannabis and acknowledge that allowing and

encouraging farmers to produce industrial hemp will improve

the balance of trade by promoting domestic sources of

industrial hemp and can make a positive contribution to the

issues of global climate change and carbon sequestration;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be

transmitted to the dean of the college of agriculture and home

economics, the president of the United States, the federal

secretary of agriculture, the chair of the United States

senate committee on agriculture, nutrition and forestry, the

chair of the United States house of representatives committee

on agriculture and each member of New Mexico's congressional

delegation.