JUDICIAL: Includes Hemp

Big Sky Scientific LLC, Plaintiff v. Idaho State Police, Ada County, Jan M. Bennetts, in Her Official Capacity as Ada County Prosecuting Attorney, Defendants, No. 1:19-cv-00040-REB, 2019 WL 2613882 (D. Idaho Crim. R. Feb. 19, 2019)

Idaho State Police, on January 24, 2019, seized a shipment of nearly 13,000 pounds of hemp cargo that was being transported across Idaho from Oregon to Colorado. The plaintiff, the owner of the seized load, filed a Motion for Preliminary Injunction claiming that the cargo is industrial hemp under provision enacted in the 2018 Farm Bill that allows for the transportation of industrial hemp. The District Court found that the 2018 Farm Bill allows for hemp to be transported across state lines in interstate commerce so long as certain conditions are met – namely, that the United States Department of Agriculture creates their own regulatory plan for hemp production and outlines how states can create their own regulatory plan for hemp production consistent with the federal requirements. Because the conditions had not been met, the District Court ruled denied plaintiff’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction. The plaintiff appealed and the case is being heard today in front of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. To see the District Court’s ruling denying the Motion for Preliminary Injunction click here.