Pennsylvania awards nearly $400,000 to support the hemp industry and teach students about its'many uses'

Pennsylvania’s Agriculture Secretary announced on Thursday the state would be distributing $392.265 in matched funds to promote the hemp industry. This will include creating a curriculum for high school and university students to learn about the “many benefits” of cannabis.

The majority of the grant money (315,765) will be used to support the student initiative. This money is being used “to create a STEM curriculum that effectively engages in industrial hemp production and management by promoting industrial hemp and its many uses, such as food fiber, fuel and industrial products.

In 2020, the Pennsylvania Departments of Agriculture and Education announced that students in grades K-12 would learn about and how to create sustainable plastics using hemp.

Florida’s Agriculture Department has also worked to promote interest in hemp among students. Last year, it held a essay competition for students grades 5-11 on the innovative uses of the crop.

The Pennsylvania Industrial Hemp Council will receive another $56,000 under the new grants to help fund a marketing campaign to “promote the benefits of hemp” and to create new markets for products made from hemp.

The council says that it is fostering a dynamic partnership among farmers, other businesses, investors and government agencies as well as communities in order to bring hemp to Pennsylvania farms.

The U.S. Ecological Advanced Research & Conservation Hub Hemp Certificate program for Disadvantaged Community (USEARCH), will receive $20,500 for the development of “an educational programme for disadvantaged communities, including youth, women, veterans and to enable them to become involved in the hemp industries.”

Secretary Redding recently announced $392,265 in grants to three agriculture nonprofits to fund projects aimed at growing fiber and food hemp markets, sales, and awareness in Pennsylvania.https://t.co/38mFjfQOz4

PA Department of Agriculture 16 June 2023

The Agriculture Department announced in late 2017 that it would be accepting proposals up to $200,000 for matched funding to support marketing projects to help promote the hemp market of the state.

In a press statement, Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding stated that Pennsylvania has made history by building a hemp industry from the ground up. These grants are a boost to an industry which was once a mainstay of Pennsylvania’s economic growth. They also create new opportunities for businesses, income from farms, jobs and environmentally friendly products.

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A bipartisan pair in Pennsylvania announced last month that a bill will be filed soon to legalize marijuana within the Commonwealth.

Pennsylvania House legislators also filed separate bills in this session to allow marijuana sales to be made through state-run shops, and to permit farmers and small agricultural businesses to grow cannabis after adult-use sales become legal.

Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat from Massachusetts, supports cannabis reform. He proposed in March to tax and legalize adult-use marijuana.

After the election of last year, Democrats gained control of the House. Republicans still control the Senate but some Republicans like Mike Regan and Laughlin have backed reform.