A bill requiring universities to research industrial hemp was on the verge of passing but is stalled in the Legislature by the Natural Resources and Agriculture committee.
"The bill is not going to be heard," said committee chairman Rep. Mike Gleason, R- Sun City West.
The proposal, which has been passed by the Senate and the House education committee, will have to be resubmitted in the next legislative session as a new bill.
Sponsor Darden Hamilton, R-Glendale, has proposed the measure on the basis of determining whether industrial hemp could be a beneficial crop for Arizona.
Gleason, who said he will not have the bill reviewed because the Legislature is already short on time, added that he is against the proposal.
"Hemp is difficult to distinguish from marijuana, which would cause a law enforcement problem," he said.
"Hemp is illegal because it does contain an amount of THC (the ingredient that causes a marijuana high)."
Tim Castleman, president of the Arizona Industrial Hemp Council, said the opposition is based on "ridiculous hysteria."
"There is the perception that people will think hemp is marijuana and smoke it," Castleman said. "So they do; all they will get is a headache."
Rep. Linda Lopez, D-Tucson, agreed that much of the opposition comes from conclusions that are lacking in research.
"There is all this hysteria about marijuana surrounding the issue," said Lopez, who questions whether the opposition is even listening to the facts.
Clifford Shultz, an ASU East professor and Marley Chair of the Morrsion School of Agribusiness, sees hemp research as beneficial for the state and as a way to inform people about the differences between hemp and marijuana.
"This is exactly why we do research - to put to rest ignorance," Shultz said. "I don't think people really understand the adverse implications of hemp."
Hemp does not contain enough THC to be used as a recreational drug; it contains less then 1 percent THC, according to the Arizona Industrial Hemp Council.
Castleman said the research could also be highly beneficial for Arizona's agriculture industry.
"It is important for us to consider all opportunities for our rural and agricultural economies and hemp represents an alternative to cotton," Castleman said. "It uses less water, there are no pesticides and little or no herbicide."
Gleason said that the viability of hemp in Arizona is questionable but believes researching hemp would be expensive.
However, funding for the research would not be costly for the government since it must be provided by private organizations, not government funds, Hamilton said.
Reach the reporters at kristin.roberts@asu.edu and joanne.yuan@asu.edu.
