Denver Direct: McKinley’s Hemp Bill passes in the Colorado House


Tuesday, April 24, 2012

McKinley’s Hemp Bill passes in the Colorado House

This bill (pdf) appropriates $25,000 to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment for the study of the effectiveness of using the hemp plant to remove contaminants (heavy metals) from the soil. Hemp (and tobacco) are already known to have this ability, so it will be interesting to see what results the CDPHE gets (if it passes the Senate).

It is not clear to me what happens to the hemp loaded up with plutonium (or whatever was in the soil) after harvest. Is it dangerous to handle or process into clothes? Can it be safely destroyed? It only takes breathing in one molecule of plutonium to start lung cancer.