AUGUSTA – A southern Maine legislator has submitted a bill to the Joint Standing Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry that would allow the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station to study the cultivation of industrial hemp.

Rep. Thomas D. Bull, D-Freeport, said that even though hemp cultivation remains illegal on the federal level, his bill would allow experimentation of a crop that many supporters believe could be very lucrative for Maine farmers.

“Right up until World War II, hemp was a major crop in this country,” said Bull. “Hemp is potentially very lucrative, a cash crop.”

Hemp is used for fiber and oil by rope, clothing and cosmetic companies around the world. Although industrial hemp and marijuana belong to the same family of plants, they have different characteristics. Industrial hemp is not a drug.

The director of the MAES at Orono, however, said he had not been contacted about possible studies. “I know absolutely nothing about it,” he said. “This is likely another gambit to eventually allow marijuana cultivation in the state of Maine.”

Bull disagrees. “Hemp is legal in Canada and there are no identification issues,” he said. “There is no hallucinogenic value to this crop.” But he quickly listed other economic values.

The hemp bill is heartily endorsed by some farmers, business people and economists who envision reintroducing hemp as a Maine crop as a way to invigorate the state’s economy, replenish the soil, prevent the use of pesticides and provide an alternative to wood pulp.

Proponents say the potential for the crop is nearly unlimited and a wide range of products already are being produced in Maine, including soap made in Kingfield and lip balm manufactured in Waterville.

Farmers in Canada are realizing $400 profit per acre on industrial hemp, 80 percent of which is imported by the United States.

One industry study estimates that the North American market for natural fiber biocomposites, for uses such as automotive and building products, will grow from $150 million in 2001 to $1.4 billion in 2005, but another study conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture two years ago concluded the U.S. hemp market has a limited future.

The USDA report, “Industrial Hemp in the United States: Status and Market Potential,” discounted the prospects for hemp as an economically viable alternative crop for American farmers. “The U.S. market for hemp is, and will likely remain, a small, thin market,” the study concluded.

Bull submitted a hemp bill at the last session that would have allowed large-scale farming of hemp. The bill failed when legislators on the Agriculture Committee expressed concerns that law enforcement agencies would be unable to separate hemp from marijuana.

A public hearing on the hemp research bill is set for Monday, Feb. 3.