As the legal wrangling over a 7,000-pound load of a green, leafy substance seized by Idaho State Police continues, the company behind the cargo says new proceedings vindicate it.
Colorado-based Big Sky Scientific is pointing to a denied preliminary injunction as proof it was transporting industrial hemp – not marijuana –through Idaho. The purveyor of CBD oil products says a footnote from Judge Ronald Bush in his ruling points to the true nature of the green, leafy substance.
Bush writes, “There is no evidence in the record that the seized load does not meet the definition of industrial hemp in the 2018 Farm Bill.”
He goes on to say that no testing of the plants netted THC readings above 0.3 percent. That’s the legal threshold of the psychoactive compound hemp can contain.
When the truck hauling the load was pulled over by Idaho State Police in January, the agency said it was the biggest pot bust in the state’s history. Idaho law views any substance containing THC as marijuana. According to the Statesman, ISP sent samples of the seized cargo to a lab to test THC levels. The agency wouldn’t discuss the results citing pending litigation.
The court battle continues as Big Sky appeals the denied injunction. The company says its plants are degrading and losing value while in ISP custody. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is slated to hear Big Sky’s case on an expedited schedule.
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