The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has allowed officials from the University of Hawaii to import Australian hemp seeds to kick off the state’s Industrial Hemp Research Project.
“This project is just the first step in establishing Hawaii as a leader in the growth and production of industrial hemp and its products,” University Representative Cynthia Thielen explains.
Harry Ako — professor of biochemistry for the University — will be the lead researcher for the hemp project. “I am looking forward to planting and cultivating this important crop which has so much potential for Hawaii’s agricultural future,” he said. “It is exciting knowing that the University of Hawaii, and our state, is at the forefront in bringing industrial hemp back to our farmers as a crop which offers so much for so many.”
In 2014, the DEA confiscated legally-obtained hemp seeds bound for Kentucky, and in one other case stopped a Colorado man on his journey home from Canada and impounded his package of hemp seeds.
Sources:
http://thejointblog.com/university-hawaii-receives-approval-dea-import-hemp-seeds-australia/
Photo Credit: Jason Rogers