New Mexico State University Regents OK State Hemp Rules

The board of regents at New Mexico State University have approved the hemp industry draft rules formulated by the New Mexico Department of Agriculture. These rules will now be sent to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for approval.

The approval given on Wednesday comes as a fulfillment of a condition that was included in the Hemp Manufacturing Act indicating that any rules formulated for the industry have to be submitted to the board of regents at NMSU for approval before they can be implemented after getting the nod from the USDA.

Hemp is an agricultural commodity that is widely grown for fiber, seeds and other products. However, the cultivation of this crop is heavily regulated in the U.S. because of its close resemblance with marijuana, which is federally illegal. Hemp must have no more than 0.3 percent THC content on a dry weight basis, otherwise the law says that the crop must be destroyed.

The new rules approved by the board of regents at New Mexico State University give the department of agriculture in the state authority to regulate, license and inspect different actors within the hemp value chain.

The law also protects hemp breeders from prosecution if their crop becomes “hot” (is tested and is found to have higher levels of THC than what is legally permitted). This protection only applies if the THC level doesn’t exceed 5 percent.

While addressing the regents, the department of agriculture secretary Jeff Witte told the university officials that licenses for the cultivation of hemp in greenhouses were given to 104 companies and those would utilize 7.6 million square feet of grow space, while 300 people had been given licenses to grow hemp outdoors. The acreage expected to be used for outdoor cultivation on the basis of the licenses issued is 7,448 acres.

Asked why the new rules didn’t include language indicating that all hemp testing facilities must operate in accordance with the American Society for Testing and Materials standards (ASTM), Witte responded that the industry was growing rapidly and that the relevant amendments would be brought before the board of regents once the USDA releases its rules and the state makes changes to bring state rules in alignment with the federal rules.

Despite the number of questions that were posed to the agriculture secretary, the board of regents voted unanimously to approve the hemp rules. Experts now believe that industry actors like Hemptown USA and HTC Extraction Systems (TSX.V: HTC) will be hoping that the approved rules start being implemented under an emergency arrangement so that farmers aren’t kept waiting for those rules to first be cleared by the USDA.

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