Commentary: Hemp industry shows entrepreneurial spirit

By Sen. Michael Bennet

In 2013, I received a call from Majority Leader Mitch McConnell asking me, as a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, to support a pilot program to allow farmers to grow hemp. Knowing Colorado farmers’ interest in the crop, I jumped at the chance and pushed to include the program in the 2014 Farm Bill.

Over the next four years, Colorado’s hemp industry boomed. From 2014 to 2018, our hemp cultivation increased six-fold. As the industry grew, I visited hemp businesses and farms across our state, including stops at state Sen. Don Coram’s operation…