SB347 By Senators Bussman and Singleton RFD Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry Rd 1 10-MAR-16

SYNOPSIS: This bill would authorize the Department of Agriculture and Industries to administer an industrial hemp research program. This bill would allow the department or an institution of higher learning could apply for a permit or waiver to grow industrial hemp for the manufacture of hemp products.

This bill would revise the definition of marijuana in the controlled substances law to exclude industrial hemp.

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT

Relating to industrial hemp; to authorize the Department of Agriculture and Industries to administer an industrial hemp research program; to authorize the production of industrial hemp to be used for the manufacture of industrial hemp products; and to amend Section 20-2-2, Code of Alabama 1975, to provide further for the definition of marijuana.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:

Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the Alabama Industrial Hemp Research Program Act.

Section 2. As used in this act the following words shall have the following meanings:

(1) DEPARTMENT. The Department of Agriculture and Industries.

(2) GROWER. Any person, business entity, or cooperative licensed to grow industrial hemp by the department or an institution of higher education pursuant to this act.

(3) HEMP PRODUCTS. Any and all products made from industrial hemp, including, but not limited to, cloth, cordage, fiber, food, fuel, paint, paper, particleboard, plastics, seed, seed meal and seed oil for consumption, and seed for cultivation if the seeds originate from industrial hemp varieties.

(4) INDUSTRIAL HEMP. All parts and varieties of the plant Cannabis sativa, cultivated or possessed by a licensed grower, whether growing or not, that contain a delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of not more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis. Industrial hemp shall be considered an agricultural crop or an agricultural commodity, or both, in all respects under state law. The term excludes marijuana as defined in subdivision (14) of Section 20-2-2 of the Code of Alabama 1975.

(5) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION. A postsecondary institution, as defined in 20 U.S. Code 1001(a), that offers a major course of study in agriculture issues.

Section 3. (a) The purpose of this act is to assist Alabama in the development of a more permanent, profitable, and diversified agriculture by moving to the forefront of industrial hemp production, development, and commercialization of hemp products in agribusiness, and other business sectors, both nationally and globally and to the greatest extent possible. These purposes may be accomplished, in part, through all of the following:

(1) An industrial hemp research program overseen by the department, working exclusively or in conjunction with other research partners. This research program may include the planting, cultivation, and analysis of industrial hemp demonstration plots by selected growers that are licensed by the department pursuant to this act.

(2) An institution of higher education's program to conduct industrial hemp research.

(3) The pursuit by the department or an institution of higher education of any federal permits or waivers necessary to allow industrial hemp to be grown in Alabama.

(b) The Legislature hereby finds and declares that the authority granted in this act and the purposes accomplished hereby are proper governmental and public purposes, and that the development of industrial hemp production and commercial markets for hemp products within the state is important to the economic well-being of the state.

Section 4. (a) The department may adopt rules in accordance with the Alabama Administrative Procedure Act, as necessary to administer an industrial hemp research program and to license growers to grow industrial hemp pursuant to this act, including rules establishing reasonable fees for licenses, permits, or other necessary expenses to defray the cost of implementing and operating the industrial hemp research program in this state on an ongoing basis. All revenue collected pursuant to rules promulgated for the industrial hemp research under this section shall be deposited in the State Treasury to the credit of the Agricultural Fund.

(b) The department or an institution of higher education may pursue any permits or waivers from the United States Drug Enforcement Administration or appropriate federal agency that are necessary for the advancement of the industrial hemp research program.

(c) The department and institutions of higher education may cooperate and work jointly toward implementing an industrial hemp research program.

(d) The department or the institution of higher education shall coordinate the implementation of this act with other state agencies or departments, as needed, to protect public safety, diversify the agricultural economy of the state, attract new businesses to the state, create new job opportunities for Alabama residents, and create a commercial market for industrial hemp.Section 5. Section 20-2-2, Code of Alabama 1975, is amended to read as follows:

§20-2-2.

"When used in this chapter, the following words and phrases shall have the following meanings, respectively, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

"(1) ADMINISTER. The direct application of a controlled substance, whether by injection, inhalation, ingestion, or any other means, to the body of a patient or research subject by:

"a. A practitioner or, in his or her presence, his or her authorized agent.

"b. The patient or research subject at the direction and in the presence of the practitioner.

"(2) AGENT. An authorized person who acts on behalf of or at the direction of a manufacturer, distributor, or dispenser. Such term does not include a common or contract carrier, public warehouseman, or employee of the carrier or warehouseman.

"(3) CERTIFYING BOARDS. The State Board of Medical Examiners, the State Board of Health, the State Board of Pharmacy, the State Board of Dental Examiners, the State Board of Podiatry, and the State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners.

"(4) CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE. A drug, substance, or immediate precursor in Schedules I through V of Article 2 of this chapter.

"(5) COUNTERFEIT SUBSTANCE. Substances which, or the container or labeling of which, without authorization, bears the trademark, trade name, or other identifying mark, imprint, number, or device or any likeness thereof of a manufacturer, distributor, or dispenser other than the person who in fact manufactured, distributed, or dispensed the substance.

"(6) DELIVER or DELIVERY. The actual, constructive, or attempted transfer from one person to another of a controlled substance, whether or not there is an agency relationship.

"(7) DISPENSE. To deliver a controlled substance to an ultimate user or research subject by or pursuant to the lawful order of a practitioner, including the prescribing, administering, packaging, labeling, or compounding necessary to prepare the substance for that delivery.

"(8) DISPENSER. A practitioner who dispenses.

"(9) DISTRIBUTE. To deliver other than by administering or dispensing a controlled substance.

"(10) DISTRIBUTOR. A person who distributes.

"(11) DRUG.

"a. Substances recognized as drugs in the official United States pharmacopoeia, official homeopathic pharmacopoeia of the United States, or official national formulary or any supplement to any of them.

"b. Substances intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease in man or animals.

"c. Substances (other than food) intended to affect the structure or any function of the body of man or animals.

"d. Substances intended for use as a component of any article specified in paragraphs a, b, or c of this subdivision. Such term does not include devices or their components, parts, or accessories.

"(12) IMMEDIATE PRECURSOR. A substance which the State Board of Pharmacy has found to be and by rule designates as being the principal compound commonly used or produced primarily for use and which is an immediate chemical intermediary used or likely to be used in the manufacture of a controlled substance, the control of which is necessary to prevent, curtail, or limit manufacture.

"(13) MANUFACTURE. The production, preparation, propagation, compounding, conversion, or processing of a controlled substance either directly or indirectly, by extraction from substances of natural origin or independently by means of chemical synthesis or by a combination of extraction and chemical synthesis, and includes any packaging or repackaging of the substance or labeling or relabeling of its container; except, that this term does not include the preparation, compounding, packaging, or labeling of a controlled substance:

"a. By a practitioner as an incident to his or her administering or dispensing of a controlled substance in the course of his or her professional practice; or

"b. By a practitioner or by his or her authorized agent under his or her supervision for the purpose of or as an incident to research, teaching, or chemical analysis and not for sale.

"(14) MARIHUANA MARIJUANA. All parts of the plant Cannabis sativa L., whether growing or not, the seeds thereof, the resin extracted from any part of the plant, and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of the plant, its seeds or resin. Such term does not include the mature stalks of the plant, fiber produced from the stalks, oil or cake made from the seeds of the plant, any other compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of the mature stalks (except the resin extracted therefrom), fiber, oil or cake, or the sterilized seed of the plant which is incapable of germination. Marijuana does not include industrial hemp as defined in Sections 1 to 4 of the act amending this subdivision.

"(15) NARCOTIC DRUG. Any of the following, whether produced directly or indirectly by extraction from substances of vegetable origin or independently by means of chemical synthesis or by a combination of extraction and chemical synthesis:

"a. Opium and opiate and any salt, compound, derivative, or preparation of opium or opiate.

"b. Any salt, compound, isomer, derivative, or preparation thereof which is chemically equivalent or identical with any of the substances referred to in paragraph a, but not including the isoquinoline alkaloids of opium.

"c. Opium poppy and poppy straw.

"d. Coca leaves and any salt, compound, derivative, or preparation of coca leaves and any salt, compound, isomer, derivative, or preparation thereof which is chemically equivalent or identical with any of these substances, but not including decocainized coca leaves or extractions of coca leaves which do not contain cocaine or ecgonine.

"(16) OPIATE. Any substance having an addiction-forming or addiction-sustaining liability similar to morphine or being capable of conversion into a drug having addiction-forming or addiction-sustaining liability. Such term does not include, unless specifically designated as controlled under this section, the dextrorotatory isomer of 3-methoxy-n-methylmorphinan and its salts (dextromethorphan). Such term does include its racemic and levorotatory forms.

"(17) OPIUM POPPY. The plant of the species Papaver somniferum L., except its seeds.

"(18) PERSON. Individual, corporation, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, or association or any other legal entity.

"(19) POPPY STRAW. All parts, except the seeds, of the opium poppy, after mowing.

"(20) PRACTITIONER.

"a. A physician, dentist, veterinarian, scientific investigator, or other person licensed, registered, or otherwise permitted to distribute, dispense, conduct research with respect to, or to administer a controlled substance in the course of professional practice or research in this state.

"b. A pharmacy, hospital, or other institution licensed, registered, or otherwise permitted to distribute, dispense, conduct research with respect to, or to administer a controlled substance in the course of professional practice or research in this state.

"(21) PRODUCTION. The manufacture, planting, cultivation, growing, or harvesting of a controlled substance.

"(22) STATE. When applied to a part of the United States, such term includes any state, district, commonwealth, territory, insular possession thereof, and any area subject to the legal authority of the United States of America.

"(23) ULTIMATE USER. A person who lawfully possesses a controlled substance for his or her own use or for the use of a member of his or her household or for administering to an animal owned by him or her or by a member of his or her household."

Section 6. This act shall become effective on the first day of the third month following its passage and approval by the Governor, or its otherwise becoming law.

Agriculture

Marijuana

Industrial Hemp

Agriculture and Industries Department

Colleges and Universities

Controlled Substances

Code Amended