In the past two months, New York and Wisconsin passed legislation growing their hemp programs, a Maine agency issued restrictive guidelines, and Texas and West Virginia advanced hemp rules through the regulatory process. Below is a review of the latest hemp legal changes listed state-by-state.
Maine: New guidelines from Maine’s Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry prohibit importing ingestible food products containing CBD from out of state. Ingestible products sold at retail in Maine must be produced in the state.
New York: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislationthat provides a sound regulatory framework for the growth of hemp and the sale of hemp products in the Empire State.
Texas: Texas published it’s draft “Manufacture, Distribution and Retail” rules on December 10 and took public testimony on December 17. The proposed rules are generally considered favorable to in-state and out-of-state hemp manufacturers but may place greater obligations on in-state retailers.
West Virginia: West Virginia is in the process of approving rules that will regulate future hemp production and hemp products. A legislative rulemaking committee is expected to take up rules approved by the West Virginia Department of Agriculture (here and here) on December 18. Once the rules are passed out of committee, they must be approved through the standard legislative process and then signed into law. This process is expected to be completed during West Virginia’s 2020 legislative session.
Wisconsin: With the hope of opening up new opportunities for Wisconsin farmers, Governor Tony Evers signed into law Senate Bill 188, better known as the “Growing Opportunities Act.” Together with many other changes to the law, the Act broadened Wisconsin’s definition of “hemp” to match the current definition under federal law and removes hemp from the definitions of marijuana and THC.
For more information about the latest hemp legislation around the country and the groundbreaking legal work Frost Brown Todd Conducts in the space, please contact Jonathan Miller, Nolan Jackson, Jason Halligan, Brittany Warford, or any attorney in Frost Brown Todd’s Hemp Industry Team.
