The Hawaiʻi Hemp Task Force has packed its schedule for the rest of the month with meetings to better understand the local hemp industry.
Since May, the group has met six times and is set to dissolve at the end of the month.
However, farmers in the task force have complained about a lack of input so far. They also want time to review and discuss a state Department of Agriculture report that will guide lawmakers on the industry’s needs.
This week, they agreed to have six additional task force meetings over the next two weeks.
State lawmakers set up the task force last year as part of a measure that removed some redundant laws and obstacles to hemp farming.
The group was tasked with gathering information about the local hemp industry. From that, the agriculture department will send a report to the state Legislature on the findings and recommendations to promote hemp farming.
The law required the DOA to provide task force members with a report by July 1. As of Tuesday, they still haven't received the full report, but were promised the complete document this week to discuss in an upcoming meeting.
Megan Villa is one of the consultants who worked on the report and expressed concern about the DOA not releasing it in its entirety. She said the summary the task force is working off of isn't enough to understand the consultants' extensive research.
“ There's so much information in the report that supports our findings and recommendations, and without (the task force) having seen any of the report, it's hard for them to understand where we're even coming from,” Villa said.
“We have two weeks left until this task force is dissolved, and they haven't been able to see anything,” she said.
An overview of the report focuses on the infrastructure needs of farmers and recommends more hemp processing plants, equipment, research, subsidies and other state efforts.
It focused on fibers, building materials, biofuel, food and cannabinoid products that can be derived from hemp.
One of the consultants’ top priorities is having hemp processing equipment in Hawaiʻi. Hemp processing plants, known as decorticators, can produce fibers and building materials. Without them, consultants say there’s not much incentive to grow the plant.
“No farmer is going to grow hemp unless there's some place to sell the hemp, obviously, so that's why it's important. It's a chicken and egg situation. The processing plant has to be at least in view, then … farmers can grow hemp,” said Char O’Brian, a consultant who helped prepare the report.
The summary of the report suggests updating building codes for certain hemp material, and removing unnecessary laws surrounding hemp cannabinoid products.
It also supported setting up another task force to handle the farmers’ concerns about the over-regulation of hemp in the state, as the consultants' primary goal has been on infrastructure.
Hemp growers in Hawaiʻi have been frustrated with strict and ever-changing laws and regulations surrounding the plant.
Earlier this year, the state Legislature tried to legalize marijuana, but farmers opposed the measure’s impact on hemp. The state Department of Health is reviewing possible changes to its own rules on hemp processing and products.
