Sheriffs: Keep hemp bill 'in a drawer'

The Idaho Sheriffs Association announced its opposition Tuesday to proposed state legislation that would legalize industrial hemp in Idaho.

“This introduction of hemp without proper safe guards in place, is the proverbial camel’s nose under the tent with growing marijuana in Idaho,” said a press release signed by Kootenai County Sheriff Ben Wolfinger, president of the Idaho Sheriffs Association,

House Bill 122, also known as the Hemp Research and Development Act, is sponsored by three Republican lawmakers, Reps. Caroline Nilsson Troy of Genessee; Dorothy Moon of Stanley; and Sen. Abby Lee of Fruitland. The bill was introduced Feb. 11 and heard in the House Agricultural Affairs Committee on Feb. 18.

The bill follows the 2018 Federal Farm Bill passed in December, which removed hemp from the controlled substance list and made it legal under federal law. House Bill 122 would legalize the research and production of hemp in Idaho, which is one of just three states that have not legalized hemp.

“This bill does not provide any mechanism for testing agricultural hemp for meeting the standards set forth by this bill and Federal law. Without the necessary testing, as well as a method of paying for the staff to monitor and the testing process, this bill is incomplete and should not be allowed to move forward,” said the Sheriffs Association’s news release.

The Sheriffs Association states that while the bill limits THC concentration to 0.3 percent, the same level as federal regulation, there is no provision for testing hemp to ensure it is compliant.

“Unlike field tests used by law enforcement to detect the presence of THC, there are no field tests that can perform quantitative analysis to determine THC concentrations. In fact, the Idaho State Police Forensic Laboratories do not have the capability to do quantitative analysis in any of their labs and must send samples out of state for lab testing at considerable expense,” said the Sheriffs Association.

The sheriffs said if hemp becomes a legal crop in the state, regulations must be put in place along with a source of funding to pay for personnel to monitor growing operations and cover the cost of lab analysis.

“It is not right that the taxpayers of Idaho should pay for these regulatory considerations and allow those few who would profit from hemp production to not be held responsible for the cost of their chosen industry,” said the Sheriffs Association. “Finally, marijuana, in any form is not an Idaho value. We in Law Enforcement fight daily against the ills caused by drug abuse. We have the opportunity here to be preventative as we explore this potential crop. As for House Bill 122, let’s keep it in a drawer and not let it move forward.”