Update: HB 2913 was approved by the Senate Agriculture and Wildlife Committee on 3/27, and is now awaiting action from the Appropriations Committee.
Update: HB 2913 passed the House by a 92-0 vote on 3/5, and now awaits action in the Senate.
Update: HB 2913 passed the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee with a 14-0 vote on 2/6.
Democratic Representative Mickey Dollens has introduced HB 2913: The Oklahoma Industrial Hemp Agricultural Pilot Program.
If passed, this bill would allow universities to cultivate hemp for research and development purposes.
Language in the federal Farm Bill explicitly authorizes states to engage in a licensed activity involving hemp, absent federal reclassification of the plant. Over two-dozen states have enacted legislation permitting licensed hemp cultivation in a manner that is compliant with this statute.
In January 2018, Oklahoma’s public opinion pollster Sooner Poll found that 58 of respondents supported the farming of agricultural hemp.
Make hemp okay in OK. Send a letter to your lawmakers today in support of this effort.