Senate Panel OKs Industrial Hemp

Industrial hemp is one step closer to being grown in Wisconsin. The state Senate’s agriculture committee voted unanimously Wednesday in favor of a bill to let Wisconsin adopt rules for growing industrial hemp, which has low levels of the main ingredient in marijuana. Stevens Point Republican Patrick Testin is the chief sponsor of the Senate measure — and he says that with more education and discussion, supporters could alleviate concerns about things like law enforcement. Testin says he’d like to see Wisconsin reintroduce a crop for which the state was a national leader several decades ago, before the federal government banned industrial hemp in 1970. He expects the full Senate to vote on the bill by late October or early November — and a similar measure in the Assembly would require state permits.