Arizona Legislature Approves Measure to Legalize Hemp
Legislation that would legalize hemp has been given approval by the Arizona’s Legislature.
Senate Bill 1337 has been passed by Arizona’s full legislature, sending it to Governor Doug Ducey for consideration. Ducey now has the option of signing the measure into law, allowing it to become law without his signature, or vetoing it. It his was to veto it, the legislature could overturn it with a 2/3rds majority, which the bill seems to have (it passed the Senate 26 to 4 and the House 53 to 2).
If the measure does become law, it would be legal to produce, process, manufacture and distribute hemp; it would designate industrial hemp “as an agricultural product that is subject to regulation by the Department [of Agriculture]”. It would prohibit the state from “restricting a person from growing industrial hemp based on the legal status of industrial hemp under federal law.”
You can click here for the full text of Senate Bill 1337.
According to congressional research, the United States imports over half a billion dollars in hemp from other countries – primarily China and Canada – while retaining the illegality of its cultivation among its own farmers. According to the same report, the hemp market to consist of over roughly 25,000 various products.
