Lawmakers are currently trying to make regulations clear as they allow state’s medical marijuana dispensaries to produce hemp. Farmers, however, are still concerned about the involvement of the Department of Public Safety in the growth of hemp. The Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules (LCAR) heard more on Thursday about a “proposed administrative rule revision” by the Department of Public Safety aimed towards allowing Vermont’s four marijuana dispensaries to cultivate hemp. An article released on August 27th reported the discussions made on the hearings of the same committee stirred controversy. There has now been an addendum to the revision that takes on concerns, yet does not satisfy them.
The revision would give the dispensaries the right to “acquire, possess, cultivate, manufacture, transfer, transport, supply, sell, and dispense hemp and hemp-infused products for symptom relief.” It was not mentioned in the draft, but the main concern is that of cannabidiol (CBD). CBD is an oil that is used to treat epilepsy. The plant being brought up is is cannabis Sativa, which is currently illegal – along with strict exceptions – under federal law.
Vermont law makes it clear that there is a difference between hemp, which contains no more than 0.3% THC (the chemical that gets you high), and marijuana, which has more than 0.3% THC. Laws in Vermont permit the cultivation of hemp, but that has been put on a hiatus by the federal statute, “which is overseen by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).” Farmers that already need to put up with the DEA do not want “to see another level of complexity coming at them from the state level,” according to Andrea Stander, the executive director of Rural Vermont. There is lots of controversy surrounding this rule, but Lindsey Wells, an administrator for a marijuana program, made it clear that the regulations are only applied towards dispensaries that grow hemp rather than farmers who wish to.
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