Martinez vetoes bill to allow hemp research
There won’t be any research into the growth of hemp for industrial purposes in New Mexico anytime soon.
Gov. Susana Martinez vetoed legislation that would allow the growth of hemp for industrial purposes on Friday, the final day to act on legislation.
Martinez’s executive message said that there were inconsistencies between the bill and federal language that mentions hemp.
Senate Bill 94 poses a number of problems as a result of the contradictions it would create between state and federal law. As just one example, federal law classifies tetrahydrocannabinol
as a controlled substance where hemp products designed for human ingestion are concerned. Senate Bill 94 does not recognize this distinction. This and other conflicts between state and federal law would unnecessarily complicate the task of law enforcement and the state Department of Agriculture of regulating the production of hemp.
Sen. Cisco McSorley, D-Albuquerque, sponsored the bill and disputed this in a short phone interview with New Mexico Political Report. McSorley said that the legislation used the same language as the federal farm bill that authorized the growth of hemp for research purposes.
“If the federal government’s language for hemp doesn’t work, I don’t know what will,” he said.
Read more here: http://nmpoliticalreport.com/2953/martinez-vetoes-bill-to-allow-hemp-research/