{Louisville, Kentucky}...During a news conference before the 49th annual Kentucky Farm Bureau Country Ham Breakfast at the State Fair, U.S. Senator Rand Paul joined state Agriculture Commissioner James Comer Thursday in calling for legalizing industrial hemp. Paul and Comer said allowing farmers to grow industrial hemp would be a financial boon for Kentucky. Comer said he is reviving the decade-old Industrial Hemp Commission in an effort to lift restrictions on the plant and that its chairman, former state Representative Joe Barrows, D-Versailles, has agreed to step aside and let Comer chair the group. Paul said industrial hemp is legal in most industrialized nations. The Kentucky Sheriff's Association has opposed legalizing industrial hemp in the past but has not taken a position on the issue for Kentucky's 2013 General Assembly. Joining Paul and Comer to show bipartisan support for industrial hemp were state Senators Joey Pendleton, D-Hopkinsville; Dan Seum, R-Louisville; and Robin Webb, D-Grayson. Governor Steve Beshear said he is open to the idea, but he understands law enforcement has some very serious concerns about the similarity to marijuana.
