New York Governor Signs Bill Encouraging Businesses To Use Hemp For Construction, Packaging And Other Purposes
11-Jan-23 05:12:43

As New York prepares for the imminent launch of legal adult-use marijuana sales, the governor has signed a bill aimed at expanding the state’s hemp market by promoting collaborative partnerships to identify more opportunities to utilize the crop and its derivatives for packaging, construction and other purposes.

Bill sponsor Sen. Michelle Hinchey (D) announced on Tuesday that Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) approved her legislation late last month. It would amend a section of New York’s agriculture law that deals with hemp economic development, mandating that the agriculture commissioner consult with additional partners on ways to incorporate hemp products into business operations throughout the state.

Specifically, it calls for the commissioner to “consult and cooperate with” the New York State Hemp Workgroup and industry stakeholders “that currently use, or may potentially use, industrial hemp in their products, to develop and promote the use of hemp by businesses for purposes such as packaging, construction, and other uses,” according to a summary.

Prior to the bill’s being enacted, the law gave the commissioner discretion to engage in those partnerships “to the extent” that they believe “it to be necessary.”

The section is now expanded to include hemp “packaging” as one of the research, funding and business development goals for those partnerships. That’s in addition to food, fiber, cannabinoid content and construction materials like hempcrete.

“Hemp is the material of the future, and positioning New York as a leading producer of the world’s industrial hemp supply is a winning strategy for fighting the Climate Crisis, bringing large-scale economic development to New York’s rural communities, and unlocking new revenue sources to put our farmers in a better financial position,” Hinchey said in a press release on Tuesday.

SOURCE & CREDIT: MARiIJUANA MOMENT