Colorado’s full House of Representatives has approved a measure, Senate Bill 241, to legalize hemp in the state, allowing licensed cultivation to begin this year. T he measure has already passed through the Senate – it was approved by its initial two House committees, both unanimously. The measure now heads to the governor for final approval – he’s expected to sign it.

With the passage of Amendment 64, hemp was, in a way, legalized, though a provisional block was included that requires legislative action for hemp cultivation to begin. This legislation would be that required action necessary to legalize hemp and authorize the state to begin distributing hemp licenses.

Under the proposed law, farmers would have the option of applying for a 10-acre plot in order to study the viability of various hemp varieties, or they could apply for a larger, full-scale hemp farm – one that wouldn’t be limited by the number of plants.

Recent congressional research indicates that the hemp market consists of over 25,000 various products. The same research found that America imports over $400 million worth of hemp from other countries.

– TheJointBlog