Some Baltimore County residents are worried that the 2020 growing season will come with a whiff (or strong stench) of hemp.
Residents reported the offending odor from a nearby industrial hemp farm from about July to November 2019. They said the smell would cling to their clothes, drift through open windows and even cause headaches. In addition to the smell, the neighbors, who wished to remain anonymous, said they worry about the possible health effects of inhaling the fumes from hemp.
The neighbors say they aren’t opposed to industrial hemp but want the county or state to impose restrictions that would prohibit industrial hemp farming within two miles of a residential area.
“[Hemp] has a distinctive odor. So does chicken manure on the Eastern Shore, by the way,” Mark Holland, a professor of biological sciences, told The Baltimore Sun. Holland and a colleague work with more than 20 farms across the state to grow industrial hemp, as state law mandates that hemp can only be grown or cultivated on a site registered by a college or university, or by a farmer partnering with a college or university for research.
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State Sen. Shelly Hettleman, a Democrat who represents the district that includes residents and the farm, recently introduced a bill that would prohibit the state from registering a farm to grow industrial hemp if it is within two miles of a residential community with 10 or more residences. A hearing is scheduled for Feb. 25.
Hettleman said when she voted to legalize hemp, she was not aware of the smell. Her proposed legislation is designed to create a balance between farmers’ rights and rights of nearby homeowners.
However, Holland isn’t sure legislation is the right avenue to resolve the issue.
“It seems like something that needs to be worked out between neighbors and the growers,” he said. “I don’t see how the state can legislate buffer zones of miles ... and have a successful crop grown in the state.”