Idaho hemp bill clears Senate committee

Several farmers and business people testifying to Senate Ag supported the bill as providing an attractive additional crop for rotations or for various products.

“We need to have additional opportunities,” said Idaho Farm Bureau Federation board Vice President Richard Durrant, a producer in Kuna. “This has been a long process getting through everybody’s needs.”

Idaho is the only state that does not legalize hemp in some form. The Legislature in 2020 and 2019 considered but did not pass legalization bills. Gov. Brad Little issued an executive order authorizing interstate transport of hemp.

Sen. Regina Bayer, R-Meridian, expressed concern about HB 126 in relation to the state’s Schedule 1 list of banned substances. She said she would support the committee’s motion but reserve her decision on the bill until the full Senate votes.

Sen. Dan Johnson, R-Lewiston, said the text reads as if it defines hemp in two ways — a potential problem for law enforcement as well as in negotiated rule-making involving the Idaho State Department of Agriculture and stakeholders. He said he supports the bill.

Idaho Farm Bureau Deputy Director of Governmental Affairs Braden Jensen said the definition follows that of the 2018 federal Farm Bill. The state legislation’s reference to “dry weight or volume basis” is a result of law enforcement asking lab personnel what would make testing most effective; the phrasing intends to allow hemp to be tested in liquid or dry form.

He said the first planting would be next year, so the 2022 Legislature would review rules beforehand.

HB 126 would allow industrial hemp production, processing, transportation and research. It would authorize the state agriculture department to set up a U.S. Department of Agriculture-compliant program and licensing system in consultation with the State Police, the governor’s office and the agriculture industry. It would not remove hemp from Schedule 1 but would exempt licensees.

It defines hemp as any part of the cannabis sativa L plant — including seeds, derivatives, extracts and cannabinoids, whether or not they are growing — with delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content of no more than the federal standard of 0.3%.

Earlier, Jensen said USDA’s January 2021 final rules say a crop exceeding 0.3% THC must be destroyed, but the federal rules protect growers acting in good faith.

He said HB126 would not legalize retail sale or possession of CBD with a THC concentration above 0% but below 0.3%. It would allow producers to grow industrial hemp for any purpose — fiber, grain or CBD — but would require CBD that contains THC to be sold out-of-state only.