FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 26, 2006

CONTACT: Patrick Goggin

415-312-0084

Hemp Farming Bill Passes California Assembly

Vote Hemp Applauds Assembly Leadership on AB 1147,

Looks to Senate for Passage

SACRAMENTO, CA- California business leaders and

farmers are celebrating today's passage of AB 1147,

which clarifies that the cultivation of industrial

hemp is legal on the condition it contains no more

than three tenths of one percent tetrahydrocannabinol

(THC). AB 1147 passed with a clear majority of 44

votes to 32 against and now goes to the Senate for

consideration. Final passage of AB 1147 could

revitalize commercial industrial hemp farming, which

occurred in the state until shortly after World War

II.

AB 1147 was introduced last February by Democratic

Assemblyman Mark Leno and in recent months was amended

and jointly authored by Republican Assemblyman Chuck

Devore. "Industrial hemp is a bipartisan agricultural

issue whose time has come," says David Bronner,

President of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps of Escondido,

which imports hemp seed and oil for their soaps and

snack bars from Canada and Europe. "We spend hundreds

of thousands of dollars importing industrial hemp, so

we think it is time to give California farmers a

chance to grow it for us," adds Bronner, who is also a

board member of Vote Hemp.

From natural soaps to healthy foods, a variety of

"Made in California" hemp products could benefit from

an in-state source of hemp seed, fiber and oil.

According to the Hemp Industries Association (HIA)

there are over 50 member businesses that make or sell

hemp products in California. Currently these

businesses must import millions of dollars of

industrial hemp from countries such as Canada, China

and England. "We are very pleased that this bill

passed the Assembly and congratulate Mark Leno and

Chuck DeVore whose leadership was essential in passing

this bill," says HIA President Steve Levine.

Additional credit for passage of the AB 1147 goes to

the Organic Consumers Association, the Rainforest

Action Network and the California Certified Organic

Farmers who mobilized their members to support AB

1147.

If AB 1147 passes the Senate and is signed by the

governor, California will join the six states (Hawaii,

Kentucky, Maine, Montana, North Dakota and West

Virginia) that have current laws removing barriers to

industrial hemp production or research. To date,

twenty-six state legislatures have considered

industrial hemp legislation and fourteen have passed

laws or resolutions, including the California Assembly

which, in 1999, passed a resolution declaring "that

the Legislature should consider action to revise the

legal status of industrial hemp to allow for its

growth in California as an agricultural and industrial

crop."

AB 1147 would not conflict with or be pre-empted by

federal law. Nor would it interfere with the

enforcement of marijuana laws. It only allows farmers

to produce the parts of the plant that are already

legal to import under state and federal law:

industrial hemp seeds, fiber and woody core.

Nutritious Hemp Foods

Hemp seed is one of the most perfect nutritional

resources in all of nature. In addition to its

excellent flavor profile, the seed meat protein

supplies all essential amino acids in an easily

digestible form and with a high protein efficiency

ratio. But most importantly, hemp seed and oil offer

high concentrations of the two essential fatty acids

(EFAs) in a perfect ratio of the omega-3/omega-6

acids. EFA's are the "good fats" that doctors

recommend as part of a healthy, balanced diet. More

information about industrial hemp may be found at