North Dakota Committee Votes 11 to 2 to Legalize Hemp
The North Dakota House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee has voted 11 to 2 to give approval to House Bill 1054, to legalize industrial hemp.
The proposed law, which now moves towards a full House vote, is sponsored by Representative Mike Verchio (R-Hill City) with a bipartisan coalition of 39 cosponsors. If passed into law, it would explicitly legalize the cultivation and production of industrial hemp for commercial purposes.
Specifically, the bill states that “any person in this state may plant, grow, harvest, possess, process, sell, and buy industrial hemp (cannabis sativa l.) having no more than three-tenths of one percent tetrahydrocannabinol.”
It would also establish a licensing and regulatory system, and specifically states that federal approval is not required for implementation of the law; “A license required by this act is not conditioned on or subject to review or approval by the United States Drug Enforcement Agency.”
The full text of the measure can be found by clicking here.