Industrial hemp legalization is now headed to Governor Kristi Noem’s desk.
That’s after the house concurred with amendments placed on the bill in the Senate.
Noem says legalizing industrial hemp paves the way for marijuana legalization in the state.
House lawmakers are again supporting industrial hemp production by voting heavily in favor of legalization.
That’s after lawmakers in the Senate heavily amended the bill with changes they say are from the governor’s office.
Noem says they didn’t offer a certain amendment that she wanted. She says the industrial hemp bill is no longer about farmers, but about propping up the CBD oil industry.
“I remain concerned,” Noem says. “I also recognize and want folks in the state to recognize that this conversation has changed. That now, this bill will legalize CBD oil in the state of South Dakota and that’s a big difference then what we’ve seen in previous pieces of legislation dealing with industrial hemp.”
CBD oil is a non-psychoactive component of the cannabis plant. The FDA has only approved one drug with CBD in it.
Noem says she wants to wait for an FDA ruling over CBD oil.
Democratic State Representative Oren Lesmeister is the prime sponsor of the bill. He says the administration wanted to make CBD a schedule one narcotic.
“We stayed strong as far as CBD oil is legal by the 2018 farm bill until the FDA makes a ruling,” Lesmeister says. “Now, if the FDA comes down with a ruling saying CBD oil is illegal, we have to follow federal law. We thought that was a fair compromise there. We just were not going to use the piece fo their amendment that said CBD oil is illegal, period.”
The governor has not indicated whether she will veto the legislation. At least 41 states have enacted legislation that established industrial hemp cultivation and production.