Hemp Legislation Signed into Law by Maryland Governor
Maryland Governor Larry Gogan has signed into law legislation that allows academic institutions to cultivate hemp for research purposes.
House Bill 443 was passed unanimously by Maryland’s Senate as well as their House of Representatives. Unfortunately the bill doesn’t allow for the commercial cultivation of hemp, but advocates of the bill argue that allowing academic institutions to study it is the first step towards the state legalizing hemp for all farmers, given that the studies are sure to come back with positive results.
Under federal law it’s legal to cultivate hemp, but only as part of a state-authorized hemp research program, such as this new Maryland law (26 other states have enacted laws legalizing hemp for research and/or commercial purposes).