Wisconsin lawmakers to vote on hemp farming bill this week

A Wisconsin legislative committee is set to vote on a bill this week that would allow farmers in the state to grow hemp and join surrounding states with hemp laws.

The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Small Business and Tourism is scheduled to vote on the measure Wednesday morning.

The bill calls for the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection to issue licenses to farmers looking to grow industrial hemp. People with drug convictions wouldn’t be eligible for licenses and the plants couldn’t contain more than 1% THC.

Thirty-three 30 states, including neighboring Minnesota, Michigan and Illinois, have passed legislation allowing hemp cultivation.

A law signed by the state’s Gov. Scott Walker in April allows possession of cannabis-derived CBD oil, leading at least one Native American tribe to agree to set up a CBD production facility on tribal land to begin hemp production in the fall.

– Associated Press and staff reports