This week, the Hemp Industries Association (HIA) and RE Botanicals filed another lawsuit against the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for its new interim final rule on hemp. Meanwhile, the state of Hawaii has announced it will be transferring licensing responsibilities to the USDA.
Here are this week’s top headlines you might have missed.
- National: The HIA and RE Botanicals have filed another lawsuit against the DEA, alleging the agency is attempting to unlawfully regulate products derived from lawful hemp by misinterpreting the 2018 Farm Bill. Read more
Meanwhile, Vote Hemp President Eric Steenstra spoke with Hemp Grower about how the upcoming election could affect hemp. Read more - Colorado: The USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture program has granted Colorado State University Pueblo $275,000 to develop its Industrial Hemp Education, Agriculture and Research (InHEAR) program. Read more
- Hawaii: After two recent attempts to enact a law governing hemp production in the state, the legislature kicked oversight and licensing to the USDA earlier this year starting Nov. 1. Read more
- Louisiana: A multi-disciplinary team of seven North American universities and federal laboratories, led by Dr. Jeb Fields at the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, is seeking input from growers and growing media manufacturers/suppliers across the continent, representing multiple sectors and demographics, to identify needed innovations and constraints when producing specialty crops with soilless substrates. Read more
- North Carolina: Avient Biosciences officially launched its 200,000-square-foot industrial hemp research and extraction facility in North Carolina’s Research Triangle region this week. Read more
