{"id":63020,"date":"2023-03-24T10:23:49","date_gmt":"2023-03-24T18:23:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2023\/03\/24\/south-dakota-governor-vetoes-bill-to-increase-hemp-thc-limits-during-processing\/"},"modified":"2023-03-24T16:45:43","modified_gmt":"2023-03-25T00:45:43","slug":"south-dakota-governor-vetoes-bill-to-increase-hemp-thc-limits-during-processing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2023\/03\/24\/south-dakota-governor-vetoes-bill-to-increase-hemp-thc-limits-during-processing\/","title":{"rendered":"South Dakota Governor Vetoes Bill To Increase Hemp THC Limits During Processing"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

\u201cIncreasing the THC level to 5 percent would hinder our successful hemp program and undermine enforcement of our drug laws.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

By Makenzie Huber, South Dakota Searchlight<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gov. Kristi Noem (R) vetoed a bill Thursday that would increase the amount of THC that industrial hemp processors can have in their products.<\/p>\n

THC is short for tetrahydrocannabinol, the compound in cannabis plants that produces a high when present in sufficient amounts. Hemp, unlike its cousin marijuana, is low in THC. Hemp plants can be used in a multitude of products.<\/p>\n

Noem said\u00a0the bill\u00a0would \u201cjeopardize the effectiveness and safety\u201d of the state\u2019s industrial hemp industry \u201cby creating conflict with federal law while also allowing marijuana products to be considered hemp products.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Today, I VETOED HB 1209.<\/p>\n

South Dakota has a safe and responsible hemp program that we have worked many years to implement properly.<\/p>\n

This bill would jeopardize the effectiveness and safety of our program by classifying marijuana as hemp. pic.twitter.com\/YczofNW9Ok<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Governor Kristi Noem (@govkristinoem) March 23, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Legislators will return to Pierre on Monday to consider the hemp veto and other vetoes from Noem. It takes a two-thirds vote to override a veto. Earlier this winter, the House of Representatives passed the bill in a 44-26 vote while the Senate passed it in an 18-16 vote.<\/p>\n

Under current state law, up to 1 percent of THC is allowed in a hemp \u201cproduct in process,\u201d which is already over the federally recognized limit of 0.3 percent. The \u201cproduct in process\u201d definition includes hemp that\u2019s being transported from one place to another during processing.<\/p>\n

The bill<\/a> would increase the limit to 5 percent.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I allowed this bill to become law, it would jeopardize the clearly expressed will of the people,\u201d Noem said in a statement<\/a>, referencing the failed 2022 ballot measure to legalize recreational marijuana. \u201cIncreasing the THC level to 5 percent would hinder our successful hemp program and undermine enforcement of our drug laws.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Today, I VETOED HB 1209, which would increase the amount of THC allowed in hemp to 5%, classifying marijuana as hemp.<\/p>\n

South Dakotans spoke clearly this past November: they do not want recreational marijuana. Signing this bill would go against the will of the people. pic.twitter.com\/wQMHDthBDk<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) March 23, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Noem also argued that the change would increase the THC level for crops in the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s absolutely a lie. That\u2019s not true,\u201d said Rep. Oren Lesmeister, D-Parade, the bill\u2019s prime sponsor in the House. \u201cThe only time we\u2019re allowing it above 0.3 percent is processor to processor. Crops are still under 0.3 percent, biomass is still under 0.3 percent and end products are still under 0.3 percent.\u201d<\/p>\n

The higher THC levels are temporary, Lesmeister explained, and tied to the production of hemp-derived products. While hemp plants in the field have a THC below 0.3 percent, processors have concentrated levels of THC when extracting oils and CBD from the crops for products such as lip balms, oils and lotions.<\/p>\n

Those higher levels of THC are all but unavoidable in the production of consumer hemp products, Lesmeister said. Processors themselves are not federally regulated, and other states with hemp processors \u201cturn a blind eye\u201d to processing-related concentrations over 0.3 percent, Lesmeister said. South Dakota would join two other states, Colorado and New York, were it to allow the 5 percent limit.<\/p>\n

Lesmeister is not a hemp farmer but plans to plant the crop in the future. The 2023 legislative session is the second time he\u2019s introduced the bill.<\/p>\n

The 1 percent level was a compromise when the hemp program started, Lesmeister said. But processors exceed 1 percent THC \u201cpretty much every time\u201d before THC levels are reduced again when processing is finished. Raising the limit to 5 percent would ensure processors are producing legally, and Lesmeister said this veto could \u201cstifle the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we could have zero THC in our hemp products, we\u2019d love that,\u201d Lesmeister said. \u201cIt\u2019s a pain in our butt. We don\u2019t want THC. We just want the CBD and the isolates and the oil. But when you extract, you concentrate the oil and that raises the THC level.\u201d<\/p>\n

South Dakota had the second-most industrial hemp acres in the nation in 2022, following Montana, according to reporting citing the South Dakota Industrial Hemp Association. The state\u00a0increased harvested yields in 2022 by 35 percent to 2,540 acres, up from 1,674 in 2021.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are people processing in the state who don\u2019t want to do anything wrong,\u201d Lesmeister said. \u201cThey can\u2019t get crop insurance on it yet. There\u2019s no safety nets like all the other crops.\u201d<\/p>\n

This story was first published by South Dakota Searchlight.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Bipartisan Senators File Bill To Ease Restrictions On Industrial Hemp Farmers<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Photo courtesy of Brendan Cleak.<\/em><\/p>\n

The post South Dakota Governor Vetoes Bill To Increase Hemp THC Limits During Processing<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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\nRead More: South Dakota Governor Vetoes Bill To Increase Hemp THC Limits During Processing<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cIncreasing the THC level to 5 percent would hinder our successful hemp program and undermine enforcement of our drug laws.\u201d By Makenzie Huber, South Dakota Searchlight Gov. Kristi Noem (R) vetoed a bill Thursday that would increase the amount of THC that industrial hemp processors can have in their products.Continue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":457,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63020"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/457"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63020"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63020\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63021,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63020\/revisions\/63021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}