Hemp, Inc. on the Pulse: Progress in Portland, Maine, Colorado and a Glimmer of Hope in Tennessee

LAS VEGAS, Nov. 13, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Hemp, Inc. (OTC: HEMP) remains on the pulse of the medical marijuana and industrial hemp industry as Portland, Maine becomes the east coast's first city to legalize marijuana. The state followed Washington and Colorado's lead and legalized the recreational use of marijuana. According to CNN, the city ordinance will allow adults over the age of 21 to possess a small amount of marijuana (up to 2.5 ounces)… a small victory many hope will persuade statewide legalization.

But it will take more than a shift in public opinion and an overwhelming vote. According to Portland's Police Chief Sauschuck, law enforcement will continue to enforce Maine's state law in which small amounts of marijuana can carry fines of up to $1,000.

In other recent news, Colorado also released new hemp farming regulations last week that calls for farmers to register and pay an annual fee of $200 plus $1 per acre of hemp. The rules, created by the hemp advisory committee, will, however, need to be approved by Colorado's Department of Agriculture.

Bruce Perlowin, CEO of Hemp, Inc. said, "I said it before and I'll say it again... these are monumental steps for the industry. What we are all trying to get people to understand is that this will finally unlock a clean American industrial revolution that will not only be economically sound, but environmentally advantageous."

"Everything that's happening… it's a ripple effect," said Perlowin. "Even Tennessee's Senator wants to remove the barriers to produce industrial hemp." As the Tennessean reported, Tennessee Senator Frank Nicely is drafting a bill to legalize industrial hemp in Tennessee. According to Senator Nicely, "the key to success is educating (his lawmaker) colleagues about the differences between industrial hemp and marijuana and the financial benefits to farmers," something which Hemp, Inc. has been doing for the last 4 years.

So what's driving the movement to legalize industrial hemp and marijuana? Perhaps it didn't hurt that CNN's Sanjay Gupta followed Hemp, Inc.'s footsteps when he conducted an interview with Chaz Moore (Hemp, Inc. had interviewed Chaz Moore, one year earlier). Sanjay Gupta, one of the leading experts in the US actually reversed his position on medical marijuana and admitted its benefits. He also revealed that the benefits of Industrial Hemp have been systematically misleading. "The government says there are no medical benefits, but then the United States, through its Department of Health and Human Services, has a patent (U.S. Patent 6630507) on marijuana as an anti-oxidant and neuroprotectant in the brain," said Gupta.

"These three series of events are another indicator that the industrial hemp and medical marijuana industries are here to stay. Trying to slow that evolutionary progress down is like trying to sweep back an incoming tide with a broom. Hemp, Inc. has positioned itself to be in the forefront of the industrial hemp industry/movement," said David Tobias, President of Hemp, Inc.

Hemp, Inc.'s TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE

Hemp, Inc. (OTC.PK: HEMP) seeks to benefit many constituencies, not exploit or endanger any group of them. Thus, the publicly-traded company believes in "upstreaming" of a portion of profit from the marketing of their finished hemp goods back to its originator. By Hemp, Inc. focusing on comprehensive investment results—that is, with respect to performance along the interrelated dimensions of people, planet, and profits— our triple bottom line approach can be an important tool to support sustainability goals.

SOURCE Hemp, Inc.