State is seeking DEA permit to import industrial hemp seed

After watching Kentucky’s hemp seed importation quandary unfold last week, Hawaii plans to apply for a Drug Enforcement Administration permit to prevent delays in its own plan for industrial hemp.

"Both (states) feel we should not have had to (apply for a permit), but a lawsuit takes time," state Rep. Cynthia Thie­len, a 20-year champion for industrial hemp growth in Hawaii, said Thursday in an interview.

Earlier this month U.S. Customs officials seized seeds Kentucky was importing from Italy, prompting that state’s Department of Agriculture to file a lawsuit against U.S. Customs, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Department of Justice, seeking release of the seeds.

Kentucky was on a deadline to plant the seeds by June 1, so it was forced to apply for an expedited permit from the DEA, which was awarded within a day, Thie­len said. It could have taken up to a year for Kentucky to get the seeds had it not applied for the permit, she added.

Hawaii, shooting for a July 1 plant date, is in a similar situation. The state, therefore, is working with the same DEA officials in Washington, D.C., to obtain its permit, bypassing the local office, Thie­len said.

Hawaii also is following Kentucky’s lead by obtaining its seed from Italy, rather than China as originally planned.

Thielen said officials involved with the state’s upcoming hemp research proj­ect are having difficulty contacting sources in China for purchase of seeds.

"In order not to delay our proj­ect, we’re going ahead to bring in seed from Italy," she said, adding that the state will continue to work on getting future orders from China.

China had been picked as the source for Hawaii’s hemp seeds because scientists who conducted a previous research proj­ect in 1999 and during the early 2000s determined that Chinese varieties are less susceptible to birds and pests in the isles.

The University of Hawaii’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources will head up the research proj­ect green-lighted by Gov. Neil Abercrombie earlier this month. Hemp’s natural soil-cleansing properties will be put to the test at a contaminated site on the Hickam side of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.

The Legislature passed Senate Bill 2175, now Act 56, in light of President Barack Obama signing farm legislation in February that, in part, permits state agriculture departments and universities to grow hemp for research purposes.

"Unfortunately, the law itself did not authorize direct importation of the seed for these particular research proj­ects that are authorized under federal law," Thie­len (R, Kai­lua-Kane­ohe) said. She added, "Congress should clarify … that university hemp research proj­ects are not required to get a DEA permit."