Ion Rață, president of the Moldovan Association of Hemp Growers and Processors, urges the government to “urgently” legalize industrial hemp, following the example of Romania, which did it already 11 years ago.
During a press conference on Friday, Ion Rață spoke about the Moldovan-Romanian technology and modernization project “Industrial Hemp Processing on both sides of the Prut River”. “This project is coordinated with our friends, with our Romanian colleagues. For 11 years now, this plant has been cultivated in Romania, which is very lucrative and also very good from a biological point of view”, said Rață.
Industrial hemp is not a narcotic, according to the 1961 International Convention on Narcotic Drugs. Ion Rață says that in 2017 the Minister of Agriculture commissioned a task force to study the legislation, which concluded that cultivating the plant could be permitted. As an experimental project, several hectares of hemp were sown, but it all ended with criminal charges which are still pending today. This is despite the fact that Moldova has ratified the convention and the fact that international treaties prevail over national legislation.
“Hemp has over a thousand processing possibilities. It has huge a potential and it is unparalleled in manufacturing medicine, cosmetics, agrifood products, oils, fibers, stem, building materials. I could go on and on. But to grow it, you have to have an industry”, said Rață.
Victor Melnic, a doctor of biology president of the Moldovan Association of Cultivators of Aromatic and Medicinal Plants, said that got tired explaining at numerous meetings that industrial hemp is not a drug. “It is beneficial for health, agriculture, the environment and other areas. The reintroduction of this plant would allow the national economy to rise, allow farmers to earn, and contribute to the improvement of the soil”.
“Farmers nowadays are looking for any solution that could allow their businesses withstand the new climate conditions, which no one can control, neither the Government nor the farmers. The only solution for farmers is to adopt and grow new varieties or crops that are resistant to these high temperatures, to the long periods of drought and climate conditions experienced in Moldova”, said Alexandru Bădărău of the Farmers’ Force Association during the same press conference.
