A nearly 7,000-pound load of a green, leafy substance the Idaho State Police intercepted last month at a checkpoint near Boise is staying put in the Gem State. That’s despite a court filing by the company claiming the plants are industrial hemp.
Almost a month after ISP pulled over the big rig carrying 6,701 pounds of – something – on January 24, the plants containing THC (the psychoactive component of marijuana) remain impounded in Idaho.
This week, a federal judge denied an injunction from Colorado company Big Sky Scientific requesting the semi-trailer containing the plants be released by authorities. The company, which produces wholesale CBD oil and hemp products, alleged the plants were degrading and losing value.
Big Sky Scientific says it purchased hemp from an Oregon grower. As it passed through Idaho, ISP seized the truck and arrested the driver on drug trafficking charges. Idaho law classifies any plant containing THC as marijuana.
Samples of the green, leafy substance were sent to a lab for testing to determine how much THC it contained. According to the federal Farm Bill, hemp can only have 0.3 percent of THC in it. Big Sky claims the federal law should provide for safe passage of the plants across Idaho, but state law says differently.
According to the Statesman, the THC test results are in, but neither Big Sky nor ISP are saying what they reveal given pending litigation.
The incident underscores an effort underway at the statehouse to bring the Idaho into accord with the Farm Bill and spur industrial hemp cultivation.
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