Kentuckians win hemp-seed battle

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Tiny hemp seeds that produced a drawn-out legal fight were freed from confinement and delivered Friday to Kentucky’s Agriculture Department for experimental plantings, marking a limited comeback for the nonintoxicating cousin of marijuana.

The seeds from Italy that drew so much suspicion from federal drug officials were unceremoniously unloaded from a UPS truck and then weighed by state agriculture officials. The shipment featuring 13 seed varieties came in at 286 pounds.

It marked an uneventful conclusion to a standoff that pitted the state’s Agriculture Department against the federal government.

State Agriculture Commissioner James Comer, a Republican who sees hemp as a potential cash crop for farmers and a jobs creator for processors, said the arrival of the seeds puts Kentucky at the forefront of efforts to reintroduce the long-banned crop in the United States.

The seeds were sprung from confinement after federal drug officials approved a permit Thursday that ended the legal standoff.

A Section on 05/24/2014

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