1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to agriculture; providing for an industrial 
  1.3             hemp study. 
  1.4   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.5      Section 1.  [INDUSTRIAL HEMP STUDY.] 
  1.6      The director of the agricultural experiment station at the 
  1.7   University of Minnesota, in cooperation with the commissioner of 
  1.8   agriculture, and the Minnesota bureau of criminal apprehension, 
  1.9   may study the feasibility of industrial hemp production in 
  1.10  Minnesota, including field demonstration projects.  The study 
  1.11  may include an analysis of required soils, growing conditions, 
  1.12  herbicide and pesticide use, seed availability, harvest methods, 
  1.13  market economics, licensing, law and drug enforcement, and 
  1.14  environmental benefits.  The study must consider concerns 
  1.15  expressed by some persons in the law enforcement community 
  1.16  including the adequate visual identification of hemp plant 
  1.17  species at various stages of plant development; the effects of 
  1.18  deliberate or inadvertent cross-pollinization between species; 
  1.19  and the use of industrial species hemp to visually screen 
  1.20  illegally grown species.  Notwithstanding Minnesota Statutes, 
  1.21  sections 18.75 to 18.87, and chapter 152, the commissioner of 
  1.22  agriculture may authorize field demonstration projects using 
  1.23  experimental plots as part of the study to develop optimal 
  1.24  agricultural practices for growing industrial hemp in Minnesota. 
  2.1   The director shall report to the senate agriculture and rural 
  2.2   development committee and the house agriculture committee on the 
  2.3   study by January 15, 1999.