One Small Step For North Dakota, One Large Step for Hemp Cultivation In North America
Had someone asked me earlier this year who would be the first state to put an industrial hemp licensing regime for farmers, North Dakota would not have been at the top of my list. For those not familiar with the American federal system, the fact that North Dakota has surged forward with state-based licensing should be viewed as a not-so-subtle challenge to the U.S. Code. Specifically, North Dakota legislators and the Agricultural Commissioner, Roger Johnson, are challenging the applicability of Title 21 USC Section 812 that makes marijuana illegal to industrial hemp (for more on this see this post in HemperFi). You can read the official press release here.
The missing ingredient in all this is Congress. At this point, Congress needs to step in and help draw a legally recognized distinction between industrial hemp and marijuana. I'm guessing, passing a quick and dirty statement published in the Federal Register (that clarifies the U.S. Code) would suffice...there's probably no need to pass a bill.
Once that occurs, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) would no longer have authority to block permit issuance by the states, given that industrial hemp would no longer be defined as a "drug".
I say, hats off to North Dakota! Agricultural Commissioner Roger Johnson, along with the state legislature, have laid down an important milestone for industrial hemp cultivation in the United States.