Source: Bend Bulletin
Oregon regulators, farmers look for answers on hemp “principles”
SALEM — Buried in the news Thursday that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration decided not to move medical marijuana to a lower point on the Controlled Substances Act was a statement that has left hemp farmers and regulators scratching their heads.
After months of speculation that it would move marijuana out of its current status as a dangerous drug with a high potential for abuse, the DEA opted for only slight changes that would increase access to the federally illegal plant for researchers.
The agency also included what it called a statement of principles on hemp, another cannabis plant that’s legal in Oregon but remains illegal federally. The eight-page document intends to lay out the agency’s position on the plant, but it has people associated with the burgeoning hemp industry searching for answers.
The statement reiterated that the agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture still consider hemp and most products that derive from hemp to be illegal despite at least 28 states across the country passing laws to legalize the plant.
That’s cause for concern for a number of Oregon’s 77 licensed growers who are producing hemp on as many as 1,219 acres.
A small group of farmers, many with ties to Oregon’s medical marijuana industry, applied for and received licenses to grow hemp last year. The famers faced pushback from the Oregon Department of Agriculture, which said state law restricted methods they could use to grow the crop.
The agency was also surprised when nearly all licensed farmers said they were interested in growing the plant for a substance that some people believe has curative qualities strong enough to treat seizures and symptoms from or even cure cancer.
The DEA statement appears to put in question whether it believes farmers can sell that substance, cannabidiol or CBD.
“The term ‘industrial hemp’ includes the plant … and any part or derivative of such plant, including seeds of such plant, whether growing or not, that is used exclusively for industrial purposes (fiber and seed),” the agency wrote.