Tennessee Governor Signs Law to Legalize Hempselfnews Post The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 28-0 and the House by a vote of 88-5. It reads, in part: Mike Maharrey, communications director for the Tenth Amendment Center, noted that one word strengthened the bill considerably. By including the word shall in this legislation, it has a great deal of impact, he said. This means that rather than keeping it open-ended like other states have done, hemp farming will be able to move forward in Tennessee whether the regulatory bureaucrats there want it to or not. Shall is a legal term which creates a specific requirement far stronger than a word like will. The former is more closely interchangeable with the word must, while the latter allows leeway for the object of the term to delay. In this case, the bill states that the Tennessee department of agriculture will have a mandate to license farmers for growing hemp. Three other states Colorado, Oregon and Vermont have already passed bills to authorize hemp farming, but only in Colorado has the process begun. A similar bill was passed in South Carolina this week and awaits action by Gov. Nikki Haley. With passage of HB2445, Tennessee will most likely become the 2nd state in the country to actively produce hemp. The legislation also ensures that not only will hemp licenses be issued, but the process for doing so will start quickly. It reads: In other words, now that the bill has become law, the process in Tennessee will start no later than November, 2014. Maharrey called this monumental in comparison to Oregon. That state first legalized hemp farming in 2009 but five years later, farming and production still has not begun. HUGE ECONOMIC POTENTIAL Experts suggest that the U.S. market for hemp is around $500 million per year. But, since the enactment of the unconstitutional federal controlled-substances act in 1970, the Drug Enforcement Agency has prevented the production of hemp within the United States. Many hemp supporters feel that the DEA has been used as an attack dog of sorts to prevent competition with major industries where American-grown hemp products would create serious market competition: Cotton, Paper/Lumber, Oil, and others. There are as many as 25,000 uses for industrial hemp, including food, cosmetics, plastics and bio-fuel. The U.S. is currently the worlds #1 importer of hemp fiber for various products, with China and Canada acting as the top two exporters in the world. During World War II, the United States military relied heavily on hemp products, which resulted in the famous campaign and government-produced film, Hemp for Victory! Even though soil, climate and agricultural capabilities could make the United States a massive producer of industrial hemp, today no hemp is grown for public sale, use and consumption outside of Colorado, which just began production. In February of this year, President Barack Obama signed a new farm bill into law, which included a provision allowing a handful of states to begin limited research programs growing hemp. The new hemp amendment The farming laws in Colorado, Oregon and Vermont go beyond research and into full-scale farming and production, effectively nullifying the federal ban once production begins. Tennessee joins them, and will likely become the 2nd state in the country to actively start an industrial hemp program. ACTION ITEMS For All Other States: Take action in your state to push legislators to introduce and support bills to legalize hemp farming by clicking HERE. Visit the TenthAmendmentCenter.com where this article first appeared. See How Hemp Can Save The World. 