The Maine DACF is seeking public comment on proposed industrial hemp regulations. The proposal comes under a Maine law passed last year that aims to allow commercial hemp cultivation.
The 2014 U.S. Farm Bill allowed hemp cultivation for research purposes, with a Drug Enforcement Agency permit, but there is still a federal prohibition on commercial hemp production, along with its cannabis relative marijuana.
The DACF’s proposed regulations would set up an state-based oversight system for growing hemp, but the agency does offer this caveat: “Persons growing industrial hemp may be subject to federal sanctions for what may otherwise be considered authorized conduct in the State of Maine and compliance with these rules does not exempt licensees from possible federal prosecution.”
Despite that, the DACF is proposing a fairly strong oversight system. A Maine hemp license would cost $500, plus a $100 application fee and $50 per acre, under the state Department of Agriculture’s proposed rules.
Farmers would also have to submit a detailed description of the land where the hemp will be grown, including a map, aerial photograph or global positioning coordinates, so that the DACF is aware of the location, its size and boundaries. Farmers also need to submit a copy of the certification for their hemp seeds.
The overall goal is to ensure that nothing that could be construed or consumed as marijuana will be grown along with hemp, which has only trace amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive compound in marijuana. Under the state’s rules, hemp plants could have up 0.3 percent THC on a dry weight basis — far below the 10-25 percent common in marijuana varieties.
“No growing area may contain cannabis plants that the licensee knows or has reason to know are of a variety that will produce a plant that when tested will produce more than 0.3 percent THC,” the agency said in the proposed regulations.
All industrial hemp plants within a growing area “may be sampled to ensure compliance” the 0.3 percent THC threshold. “Crops testing above the allowable THC limit will be destroyed” with the costs covered by the farmers, who will have their licenses suspended for revoked, according to the proposed rules.
The rules would allow the DACF to inspect and sample hemp crops “at any and all times that the Department deems necessary,” and require to farmers to keep records on their plantings and harvest for three years.
“The Department may require reporting of any information or data associated with the planting, cultivation and harvest of the industrial hemp crop,” the DACF said.
The DACF is holding a hearing on proposed regulations Thursday, Feb. 25 in Augusta, and is taking written comments until Monday, March 7.
