McConnell Says Industrial Hemp Will Be In Farm Bill

 Farm bill negotiators in Congress have struggled to resolve differences over work requirements for food stamp recipients, but the Senate’s top Republican guarantees the final version will include legalization of hemp.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Friday that completing work on a new farm bill looms as one of his top priorities when Congress reconvenes for a lame-duck session.

Work to reauthorize key farm programs has slowed over work requirements for food stamps, known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.

While negotiators have wrangled over that issue, one provision certain to be in the final farm bill is one to fully legalize hemp, McConnell said. The Kentucky Republican is a key negotiator in the House-Senate conference committee crafting the final bill.

“It will be in there, I guarantee you that,” he told reporters in Kentucky.

The versatile crop is making a comeback in Kentucky and elsewhere.

McConnell has put his considerable clout behind legalizing hemp as an agricultural commodity. He has led the effort to remove hemp from the controlled substances list that currently associates the crop with its cousin — marijuana. [Read more at US News & World Report]