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House OKs hemp production
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Posted on Nov 05 2019
The House of Representatives has unanimously passed a bill that allows the production of hemp in the CNMI.
The House, voting 17-0, passed Rep. Marco Peter’s (R-Saipan) House Bill 21-55, HD1 at their Oct. 28, 2019, session in the House chamber on Capital Hill.
The bill seeks to create regulations for the hemp industry in the CNMI that is in line with federal requirements. Hemp is a strain of cannabis that has relatively lower concentrations of tetrahydocannabinol, or THC—the main psychoactive chemical in cannabis.
The legislation, which now heads to the Senate, designates the Department of Lands and Natural Resources’ Division of Agriculture as the primary regulatory authority over the production of hemp in the CNMI.
The DLNR secretary, in consultation of the director for the division, shall create the rules and regulations necessary to regulate the production of hemp in the Commonwealth, including establishing fees and requirements for licenses for production.
Although DLNR is ultimately tasked with the regulations, the legislation embedded violations pertaining to the negligence of a hemp producer, which include failing to provide a legal description of land on which the producer produces hemp; failing to obtain a license or other required authorization from the Division of Agriculture; or producing Cannabis Sative L. with a TCH concentration of more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis.
A corrective action plan will be imposed on negligent hemp producers, which requires that the producer corrects the negligent violation on a reasonable date, and to submit periodic reports to the Division of Agriculture on the compliance of the hemp producer with regulations not less than two years.
Although the legislation does not criminalize negligent hemp producers, the bill states that a hemp producer who negligently violates regulations thrice within five years shall be ineligible to produce hemp for five years.
Hemp producers who willfully violate the regulations shall be punishable by up to one year of imprisonment or a fine of up to $2,500, or both.
