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The proposed regulations would criminalize the sale and
transport of hemp products not purchased through a licensed
cannabis dispensary.
David Lakeman, division manager for cannabis and hemp at the
Illinois Department of Agriculture, recently testified at a
Joint Committee on Administrative Rules hearing.
“To be clear, the department’s intent here is solely to align
and implement the United States Department of Agriculture’s
rules on hemp as implemented in the 2018 Farm Bill,” said
Lakeman.
The Illinois Hemp Business Association said the agriculture rule
would refuel the war on drugs by expanding law enforcement
authority for stops, searches and drug arrests related to the
purchase and transport of federally lawful hemp products.
“I’ll be forced to relocate my business to a new state, taking
good jobs and opportunities out of Illinois,” said Ashraf
Hassan, owner of hemp manufacturer Organic Pharma Techs in
Joliet. “Even more concerning, this rule would disenfranchise
the very same people that Illinois’ social equity program was
meant to uplift.”
The IHBA also claims the rule would presume all hemp products
that have not yet been tested, even hemp that has yet to be
harvested, to be illegal cannabis, which can be seized by the
state at any time, and would authorize the state to conduct
unlimited inspections of local businesses, saddling shop owners
with new “testing” and “sampling” charges of up to $1,500 per
product.
As the battle over hemp regulation rages on, the state cannabis
industry continues to expand. University of Illinois System
President Tim Killeen joined cannabis researchers to launch the
Cannabis Research Institute to get a deeper understanding of
marijuana.
The plan for the CRI, which is funded by $7 million in tax funds
from the Illinois Department of Human Services, is to provide
data and research on the scientific and socio-economic impacts
of cannabis usage and production.
“We are going to be working to document the public’s needs,
exploring the health care properties of cannabis, and finding
ways to make its production of a crop more efficient,” said
Killeen.
Currently, 40 million adults in the United States use cannabis
at a rate more than double over the last 10 years.
Illinois legalized the adult recreational use of marijuana in
2020.
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