Hemp: Read final regulations for growing industrial hemp in Colorado

Back in October, we shared with you the Colorado Department of Agriculture's draft regulations for the growing of industrial hemp. Now, those regulations are official -- with one change. Instead of facing a registration suspension or revocation if testing reveals that a grower's plants exceed 0.3 percent THC, the final...

By Melanie Asmar

November 29, 2013

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Back in October, we shared with you the Colorado Department of Agriculture's draft regulations for the growing of industrial hemp. Now, those regulations are official -- with one change. Instead of facing a registration suspension or revocation if testing reveals that a grower's plants exceed 0.3 percent THC, the final rules say that a grower will not be subject to any penalty as long as the "crop is destroyed or utilized in a manner approved of and verified by" the state agriculture commissioner.

Keep reading for the full list of hemp regulations.

Colorado is on the leading edge of industrial hemp production, thanks to last year's Amendment 64. In addition to legalizing small amounts of marijuana for adults 21 or older, the amendment directed the state legislature to "enact legislation governing the cultivation, processing and sale of industrial hemp" by July 1, 2014. This past May, lawmakers approved a bill that created a nine-member advisory committee tasked with helping the state agriculture department come up with a registration process for hemp farmers by March 1, 2014.

The hemp regulations below are the fruits of their labor. The rules allow for the growing of long-outlawed hemp plants for commercial, and research and development purposes.

According to agriculture department spokeswoman Christi Lightcap, the department approved the rules on November 12. They become effective December 30 and growers can begin to register with the state's industrial hemp program on March 1, 2014.

Final Hemp Regulations

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Melanie Asmar is a staff writer for Westword. She joined the paper in 2009 and has won awards for her stories about education, immigration and epic legal battles. Got a tip? She'd love to hear it.

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