Hemp is Legal. What if Cops Don’t Care?

by Zuri Davis
Reason.com

The farm bill Congress passed in 2018 brought an end to the federal prohibition of hemp, a variety of cannabis that contains almost no tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the compound in marijuana that gets you high. At the time, many would-be hemp farmers anticipated a bright future of legally growing the plant for use in paper products, rope, construction materials, clothing, and nutritional supplements. Jason Amatucci, founder of the Virginia Industrial Hemp Coalition, predicted to Reason that the farm bill would “help to clarify any legal gray areas that federal and state agencies have towards hemp and their end consumer products.”

A year later, the hemp industry is withering on the vine for want of clarity. After the farm bill was signed into law, Montana-based Big Sky Scientific LLC was transporting a 6,701-pound hemp shipment from Oregon to Colorado when the truck was stopped by Idaho State Police. The driver attempted to explain that he was not carrying marijuana, but Idaho state law classifies all parts of the cannabis plant as marijuana, making no distinction for hemp.

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