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Lawmakers Come Around To Hemp Protection

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There's evidence that people first used hemp fibers in the early days of human civilization.  The modern-day outlawing of hemp is not of its own doing: people figured out how to grow varieties of the plant that people smoke to get high (see: marijuana). 

Now the growing of industrial hemp is gaining in favor, aided by legalization of marijuana in several states.  Legislators at the state and federal level are working on laws that could help hemp farmers regardless of what happens with marijuana law. 

Oregon Industrial Hemp Farmers Association founder Courtney Moran is also an attorney, following the movements with great interest.  She and Justin Tombe of Phytonyx, a hemp farmer in the Rogue Valley, visit with tales of hemp and its uses. 

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Geoffrey Riley is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism and has hosted the Jefferson Exchange on JPR since 2009. He's been a broadcaster in the Rogue Valley for more than 35 years, working in both television and radio.
April Ehrlich is an editor and reporter at Oregon Public Broadcasting. Prior to joining OPB, she was a news host and regional reporter at Jefferson Public Radio.