Kristi Noem Won’t Veto Hemp Bill in South Dakota with “Guardrails” in Place.
The winds of change may be blowing over South Dakota. Who are we kidding? It’s always windy here.
News from Pierre broke recently when the Governor’s office announced it would in fact NOT use its veto powers over a bill supporting the cultivation of industrial hemp for the second year in a row. That concession, however, comes only on the conditions that certain guardrails are put in place in the new legislation.
The guardrails discussed include some basics, like maintaining the current standard of less than 0.3% THC presence, and some other key criteria.
- The program must be self-supportive through fees. This is a common practice in other locations around the US. Many states who were pulled in to provide comments on the summer hemp study have a similar style program. Testing and other program costs will be covered through application and grower fees.
- Noem does not want people smoking hemp in SD. While this may seem like an interesting concept to some, smoking is in fact one of the common ways people can ingest cannabinoids like CBD, CBN, and CBG. The human body’s endocannabinoid system has receptors in every major organ, including the lungs. It’s for this reason that cannabinoids can be consumed through a wide array of techniques: topically through lotions and soaps, ingesting with pills and edible foods, and even smokable.
- A minimum plot size requirements of 5 acres for growers
Both Representative Lee Qualm, a Republican and the House Majority Leader, and Representative Lesmeister, a Democrat, were pleased with their conversation with Governor Noem. The co-sponsors for the bill are excited to see their hard work throughout the summer and drafted updates in this year’s bill paying off. Along with the two, Noem also visited with Kris Langer, the Republican Senate leader who helped Noem withstand the attempted veto over-ride last year. After participating in the summer hemp study chaired by Qualm, Langer’s position has done a 180. Noem planned to communicate her requests to the rest of the 105 state legislators early Thursday.
South Dakotans can also expect easier access to CBD products and the ability to process CBD, previously a sticking point for the Governor.
SD legislators are back in Pierre this month kicking off the 2020 session. Legislators have confirmed that hemp will be one of the first bills discussed. As far as when exactly this would become effective for SD, that’s still up in the air. But word has it an emergency clause may be included in the bill that could make it effective as soon as March 1 of this year. That would be good news for prospective growers preparing for the 2020 growing season.
For more information, please feel free to give us a call at Hemp Processing Solutions.
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