Authorities Grapple With New Hemp Law Enforcement

Last September, I spoke on the importance of a whole-plant approach at the 2nd annual Southern Hemp Expo in Nashville, TN. But it’s not the whole-plant message I recall, rather it was the smokable hemp pre-rolls being handed out to attendees. This was the same in Las Vegas in December, and numerous other pre-COVID events around the country.

Hemp biomass, whether that be hemp flowers, ground plant material, or so-called “marshmallows” (harvested hemp wrapped in plastic bales), looks, smells, and seems the same as marijuana, especially to law enforcement.

Since the enactment of the 2014 Farm Bill, which defined “industrial hemp” and legalized domestic hemp production in the U.S. for the first time since the 1940s, it’s been incumbent upon law enforcement to recalibrate to say the least. Police departments, at all levels, and all across the country were unaware of the federal legalization of industrial hemp as the word simply did not get out. For some, this seems to still be the case.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) confounded matters further by taking steps directly in contravention of the 2014 Farm Bill by maintaining rhetoric that all cannabis, including industrial hemp, remained prohibited under federal law. [Read More @ Forbes]