Ron hemp legalization work creates Oregon growth industry

Ron made multiple visits last week to locations throughout Oregon benefiting from his bill to legalize hemp.

He first toured Guud Manufacturing, a rural hemp facility, before his Sherman County town hall.

His visit to Guud grew out of a February news conference in Portland at Blue Star Donuts where the donut makers rolled out a chocolate hazelnut offering that used CBD from hemp grown at Guud.

Ron also took a tour in Aurora of Oregon State University’s hemp research center -- the largest hemp research lab in the United States-- followed by a roundtable in Eugene with hemp farmers, retailers and researchers.

“What wonderfully fresh examples of how urban and rural Oregon can both benefit from new industries like hemp,” he said in Eugene, noting that Oregon has more than 1,600 hemp farmers. “Bottom line, hemp is truly a growth industry here in Oregon.”

He also heard how much work remains to update antiquated federal banking and financial laws so they reflect hemp’s legal status, to standardize testing and to allow a legal pathway to market for CBD. 

“We have some additional work to do to tap the full potential,” he said. “I am proud to have led the fight to legalize hemp and seen the increasing number of Oregon farmers growing hemp. I’m going to keep fighting for them.”