AP cites Jemison in report on applications to grow hemp in Maine
John Jemison, a soil and water quality specialist with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, was mentioned in an Associated Press report that states only two Maine residents have applied to grow the state’s first licensed crops of industrial hemp. They’re setting off into unknown territory at a time when federal law prohibits commercial hemp cultivation, according to the article. Jemison said he plans to seek a federal Drug Enforcement Administration permit this fall to research hemp cultivation and its potential use as food and cannabidiol oil. He said hemp could succeed as a rotational crop, but it’s tough creating a new industry. Though timber processing mills could be modified to process hemp, Jemison noted that Maine lacks the infrastructure of a tobacco-producing state like Kentucky. And the next president could always boost federal enforcement, he said. “I don’t think it’s going to hurt us to let somebody else dive in and tell us how deep the water is,” Jemison said. The Boston Globe, Yahoo Finance, San Francisco Chronicle, Portland Press Herald, Maine Public Broadcasting Network and Sun Journal carried the AP report.