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Oregon Halts New Hemp Permits

The Oregon Department of Agriculture says it's putting a temporary halt to issuing hemp permits.
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The Oregon Department of Agriculture says it's putting a temporary halt to issuing hemp permits.

The state of Oregon has stopped taking applications for permits to grow industrial hemp. The Oregon Department of Agriculture said the suspension will last until at least next spring.

Hemp growers and marijuana growers have clashed at the Oregon legislature. Pot farmers say cross-pollination from hemp can potentially harm marijuana plants.

They wanted state lawmakers to ban hemp production in parts of the state with lots of marijuana crops. That bill failed to pass. But the Oregon Department of Agriculture says it's putting a temporary halt to issuing hemp permits so that regulators and lawmakers can sort out a range of complex policy questions.

The decision won't affect a handful of hemp farmers who already have permits. The agency said it will reevaluate its decision following the 2016 legislative session.

Copyright 2015 Northwest News Network

Chris Lehman
Chris Lehman graduated from Temple University with a journalism degree in 1997. He landed his first job less than a month later, producing arts stories for Red River Public Radio in Shreveport, Louisiana. Three years later he headed north to DeKalb, Illinois, where he worked as a reporter and announcer for NPR–affiliate WNIJ–FM. In 2006 he headed west to become the Salem Correspondent for the Northwest News Network.