Arizona’s full Senate has given approval to the legalization of industrial hemp.

By Anthony Martinelli
Source: thejointblog.com

Senate Bill 1337 passed the full Senate with a 26 to 4 vote; this follows a 6 to 1 vote in the Senate Commerce and Public Safety Committee, and a unanimous 10 to 0 vote in the Senate Appropriations Committee. It now moves to the House of Representatives, where passage will send it to Governor Doug Ducey.

“It’s good policy. It’s economic development, and it’s good for the agriculture community,” says Senator Sonny Borrelli, the bill’s lead sponsor.

According to its official language, Senate Bill 1337:

1. Authorizes industrial hemp production, processing, manufacturing, distribution and

commerce.

2. Designates industrial hemp as an agricultural product that is subject to regulation by the

Department [of Agriculture]

3. Requires the Director to adopt rules for the licensing, production and management of industrial

hemp and hemp seed and set fees to recover the cost of licensing, testing and supervising

industrial hemp production.

4.Prohibits the Director from restricting a person from growing industrial hemp based on the

legal status of industrial hemp under federal law.

5.Declares the Legislature’s finding that the development and use of industrial hemp can improve

the economy and agricultural vitality of the state and that the production of industrial hemp can be regulated so

as not to interfere with strict regulation of controlled substances.

Section 4 makes it explicitly clear that the state can’t refuse to implement the law based on hemp’s illegality on the federal level.

Click here for the full text of Senate Bill 1337.