Hemp farmers who suffered economically under state regulations in recent years would be allowed to cultivate marijuana, while smaller cannabis farmers could open brew pub-style sales rooms under legislation that has passed a key legislative committee.
Several hemp and cannabis-related bills were approved by the General Law Committee on Monday, with majority Democrats promising to negotiate further with Republicans on the committee before the bills reach the floor of the House and Senate for debate and vote.
"The fact is that we have so put the hemp industry in complete distress that we have knocked down our potential hemp farmers from only 42 to only nine now, because we have made it so difficult," said state Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, a member of the committee. Osten was complaining to committee members that since the legalization of adult-use retails sales in 2021, hemp, with very low levels of the psychoactive chemical compound THC, has been neglected.
"Many of our regulations have been completely against the approval process that the federal government had, taking hemp out of the controlled substances market," Osten said. "I'm not willing to kill a brand-new industry that's attempting to survive. We have to do something that allows, under the federal law, the hemp industry to exist."
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