The fine — or arguably unclear — distinction between what constitutes hemp and illicit marijuana caused a controversial ruckus in Oklahoma almost as soon as the federal legislation to legalize industrial hemp took effect.
Two security officers and two truck drivers en route to Colorado were arrested by local police a year ago in Pawhuska while transporting a huge hemp shipment. Each was charged with trafficking marijuana, which carries a penalty of 15 years to life.
Defense attorneys contended the security guards’ paperwork was in order showing the cargo was hemp and that at worst a portion of the shipment was noncompliant from a Kentucky grower. Osage County District Attorney Mike Fisher believed the four men were intentionally transporting illegal marijuana.
Fisher cited lab results a month later that found three of 11 samples conclusively tested over the limit, of which the highest was 0.5% THC. Defense lawyers argued the same tests proved there was only a small amount of noncompliant hemp, given the legal limit is 0.3% THC.
The 2018 Farm Bill specifically states that “a hemp producer that negligently violates a State or Tribal plan … shall not as a result of that violation be subject to any criminal enforcement action” by federal, state, tribal or local governments.
The protracted feud ended eight months later when Fisher dropped the case. Fisher released a letter saying he believed the guards were “duped” into illegally shipping 4,300 pounds of marijuana in an approximately 18,000-pound load of predominantly hemp. The defense counsels also signed the statement.
Speaking generally, an Oklahoma Highway Patrol spokeswoman acknowledged there isn’t a field test to determine hemp from marijuana, so “suspicion alone” isn’t enough to generate probable cause for an arrest if troopers encounter a large shipment touted as industrial hemp.
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