Idaho hemp legislation is a step backward

Idaho Freedom Foundation ^ | April 5, 2019 | Wayne Hoffmann

[Twotone]

Last year President Donald Trump signed the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 into law. That Farm Bill allowed states to grow hemp. With that, I only imagined our state politicians would loosen Idaho’s stringent anti-cannabis laws. When it comes to politicians, I need to learn to be more imaginative.

A few weeks ago, the Idaho House overwhelmingly passed a bill to allow the farming and cultivation of hemp. The measure would have allowed the use of cannabidiol oil for medicinal purposes. But at the insistence of some in law enforcement, lawmakers retreated and instead advanced legislation that would keep hemp illegal yet allow it to be transported through Idaho — in a way that makes it seem as if we’d have a possible influx of trucks hauling plutonium laced with meth.

The legislation, which is expected to pass the Legislature as of my writing, still doesn’t allow farmers to grow or process hemp, even though doing so is legal elsewhere under both state and federal law. Should it become law, the statute would only allow hemp to be transported through Idaho in a highly regulated manner. Transportation can only occur so long as truck drivers get a special permit from the state of Idaho. The 2018 federal Farm Bill doesn’t require states to create a transportation permitting process, and it appears that no other state has a similar requirement or permitting process for hemp transportation.

The proposal doesn’t outline how much a permit to transport hemp would cost, whether it will be $10 or $10,000. The law also says truckers will face civil penalties if they fail to get a hemp hauling permit. However, apart from a provision that calls for the seizure of unpermitted hemp trucks...

[Twotone]

Apparently Freedom isn't a 'thing' here in Idaho.

[Buckeye McFrog]

The defect in this one is the cow got into a hemp field. Like, wow! Far out!

[cuban leaf]

I live in “cornbread Mafia” territory in Kentucky. The song, “Copperhead Road” might as well be the diary of this area. I do see the DEA (or equivalent) flying over my 32 acres in the sticks quite a bit.

Here’s the deal: They use infrared to detect Marijuana plants from the air. They are a very different color from other plants. Unfortunately, Hemp is the same color. So once they legalize it, it will be virtually impossible to see the marijuana from the air. And trust me, the growers will exploit the heck out of that.

That being said, it doesn’t mean I agree with outlawing hemp. Far from it. It just means I know why its legal growth is getting pushback.

[Disambiguator]

The measure would have allowed the use of cannabidiol oil for medicinal purposes.

As far as I know, this is already allowed. I know people using this stuff here in Idaho, and they're not buying it off a guy on a street corner.

[Nifster]

Or they know that those who grow “hemp” can easily hide their pit growths well

[Bob434]

[[ They are a very different color from other plants.]]

So you’re saying that what they are doing is ‘racist profiling’ then? lol

[JimRed]

Hemp and Marijuana are cousins, not brother/sister or parent/child. Hemp has a lot of uses, MJ only a couple (medical relief, getting high). Stupid, stupid.

[dfwgator]

You’re livin’ in your own Private Idaho, Idaho
You’re out of control, the rivers that roll
You fell into the water and down to Idaho
Get out of that state
Get out of the state you’re in
You better beware

[montag813]

But at the insistence of some in law enforcement,

Huh? Who the hell care what police think about hemp?

[montag813]

I do see the DEA (or equivalent) flying over my 32 acres in the sticks quite a bit......That being said, it doesn’t mean I agree with outlawing hemp. Far from it. It just means I know why its legal growth is getting pushback.

Yeah, "pushback" from all those who don't want to see the decades of "war on drugs" make-work jobs vanish overnight. Like we don't have enough of a crisis with opioids, fentanyl and meth, that these clowns can waste resources flying over farms looking for stupid pot??

[Twotone]

People may be bringing it in from OR, but they’re taking a risk. It is NOT legal here in Idaho.

[Equine1952]

People are trying to move it on the interstates all the time. Our ISP are hammering them. I worked a job that had random testing. I liked the job/ money so I stayed away from dope. I’m retired now and couldn’t care less about it. You want to use drugs go where they’re legal. Stay the he’ll out of Idaho. We have enough transplanted idiots here now.

[Disambiguator]

I went to the state government site and found this: https://odp.idaho.gov/cannibidiol/

You can have CBD oil in Idaho, as long as it’s THC free.

That being said, you can order if off Amazon all day long, and I don’t know if all the providers there have their products “cleaned” to the standards of Idaho. The Federal standard is less than .3% THC, but that’s not good enough for Idaho, apparently.