LdyLunatic
i wanna be cool too!
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2005
- Messages
- 2,417
- Reaction score
- 233
Sacramento -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed bills on Saturday that would have allowed the industrial production of hemp, increased media access to prisons and expanded the state's law allowing women to safely surrender their newborn babies.
Among the bills signed was a measure that allows registered domestic partners to file joint tax returns and have their earned income treated as community property for state tax purposes.
Schwarzenegger took action on nearly 200 bills Saturday, the final day he could make decisions on bills sent to him by lawmakers this year. In 2006, Schwarzenegger signed 910 bills and vetoed 261.
AB1147 was a bipartisan effort that would have allowed California's farmers to produce hemp oil, seed and fiber -- the raw materials that are used in hemp products. Industrial hemp, marijuana's nonhallucinogenic cousin, is used to produce personal care products, food, paper, clothing, car parts and building materials.
State law does not differentiate between hemp and marijuana crops, so farmers have been reluctant to grow hemp, fearful that their crops could be confiscated. Currently raw hemp is imported from about 30 countries that allow the farming of hemp.
The bill was co-authored by Assemblymen Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, and Chuck DeVore, R-Irvine.
Schwarzenegger said he wants to encourage new agricultural production in the state but said there is no distinction in federal law between marijuana and industrial hemp.
"Unfortunately, I am very concerned that this bill would give legitimate growers a false sense of security and a belief that production of 'industrial hemp' is somehow a legal activity under federal law," he said in his veto message.
The bill would have required farmers to undergo crop testing to ensure that their variety of the cannabis plant is nonhallucinogenic in return for assurances that their crops wouldn't be confiscated by law-enforcement officials.
Leno said farmers were willing to go to court and have the bill put on hold until a federal judge ruled whether it violated federal law.
"This is a case of politics sadly trumping science and sound public policy," Leno said. "There was no downside to taking this step forward. It denies California family farmers a great cash crop."
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Author: Lynda Gledhill, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau
Published: Sunday, October 1, 2006
Copyright: 2006 Hearst Communications Inc.
Among the bills signed was a measure that allows registered domestic partners to file joint tax returns and have their earned income treated as community property for state tax purposes.
Schwarzenegger took action on nearly 200 bills Saturday, the final day he could make decisions on bills sent to him by lawmakers this year. In 2006, Schwarzenegger signed 910 bills and vetoed 261.
AB1147 was a bipartisan effort that would have allowed California's farmers to produce hemp oil, seed and fiber -- the raw materials that are used in hemp products. Industrial hemp, marijuana's nonhallucinogenic cousin, is used to produce personal care products, food, paper, clothing, car parts and building materials.
State law does not differentiate between hemp and marijuana crops, so farmers have been reluctant to grow hemp, fearful that their crops could be confiscated. Currently raw hemp is imported from about 30 countries that allow the farming of hemp.
The bill was co-authored by Assemblymen Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, and Chuck DeVore, R-Irvine.
Schwarzenegger said he wants to encourage new agricultural production in the state but said there is no distinction in federal law between marijuana and industrial hemp.
"Unfortunately, I am very concerned that this bill would give legitimate growers a false sense of security and a belief that production of 'industrial hemp' is somehow a legal activity under federal law," he said in his veto message.
The bill would have required farmers to undergo crop testing to ensure that their variety of the cannabis plant is nonhallucinogenic in return for assurances that their crops wouldn't be confiscated by law-enforcement officials.
Leno said farmers were willing to go to court and have the bill put on hold until a federal judge ruled whether it violated federal law.
"This is a case of politics sadly trumping science and sound public policy," Leno said. "There was no downside to taking this step forward. It denies California family farmers a great cash crop."
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Author: Lynda Gledhill, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau
Published: Sunday, October 1, 2006
Copyright: 2006 Hearst Communications Inc.
