BY ACM STAFF
Late May 30th, Brian McGrew, the program manager of the AZ Dept. of Ag’s brand-new Industrial Hemp program announced via email that the “Exempt Rulemaking” package is complete and the freshly minted Hemp rules are about to officially become part of state law.
Arizona’s hard-fought for and much anticipated hemp program kicks off this Saturday, June 1. Passed on a bill passed in the 2018 legislative session, McGrew and his hemp committee spent the past year hammering out regulations for the program in a series of heavily attended public meetings. The language was finalized at the last public hearing on May 20th and sent the Secretary of State’s office to be written into the sprawling state statutes.
Among the highlights, licensed farmers will be able to grow unlimited amounts of hemp provided it remains below the .3% THC threshold. Licenses will also be issued for processors, harvesters, transporters, researchers and nurseries. Hemp is known to have thousands of uses, though AZ hemp growers are expected to primarily focus on crops for CBD and hemp seed oils. Processors are expected to market a variety of hemp products including hemp fiber or “hurds,” animal feed, biofuel, and even smokable flower, which is now legal thanks to the 2018 US Farm Bill.
Arizona’s Constitution includes the entirety of the state’s laws and runs 49 sections, or titles. The new hemp provisions will appear in Title Three, Agriculture. The hemp language will be chapter two, section four.
–ACM Staff