To date, twenty-eight states have introduced hemp legislation and sixteen have passed legislation; nine (Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Vermont and West Virginia) have removed barriers to its production or research.

State legislators, for more information about passing a resolution in support of industrial hemp please see our Hemp Resolution page.

2009 - 2010 Legislative Session

Hawaii had a hemp farming bill, HB 305, introduced on 1/26/09. The bill was heard by the Agriculture Committee on 2/6/09 and the committee recommended that the measure be deferred and died in committee. A bill may be introduced again in the 2010 session.

Kentucky had a hemp farming bill, SB 131, introduced on 2/12/09. The bill was referred to Senate Agriculture Committee 2/23/09 and was in committee on adjournment and died. Another hemp farming bill, BR 139, has been pre-filed in the Senate for the 2010 session.

Maine had a Resolve, LD 893, introduced on 3/5/09 and a hemp farming bill, LD 1159, introduced on 3/25/09. The resolve received a Committee Report of "Ought Not to Pass" on 4/13/09 at the recommendation of its sponsor in deference to the farming bill. The hemp farming bill received a Committee Report of "Ought To Pass as Amended" by a vote of 10 to 1 on 5/22/09, was passed without objection by the House on 5/27/09 was passed in the Senate by a vote of 25-10 on 5/29/09 and was signed into law by the Governor on 6/9/09.

Minnesota had a hemp farming bill, HF 0608, introduced in the House on 2/9/09. The companion bill in the Senate, SF 1365, was introduced in the Senate on 3/12/09. Both bills have been carried over into 2010, the second year of the biennium.

Missouri had a bill defining industrial hemp, HB 1130, introduced on 3/31/09 and was read twice, but no other actions were taken.

Montana had a resolution, SJ 20, introduced on 2/7/09, which was passed by the House and Senate and set to the state's Congressional delegation.

New Hampshire had a hemp farming bill, HB 399, introduced on 1/8/09 and was referred to the House Environment and Agriculture Committee. A public hearing was held on 2/5/09 and New Hampshire law enforcement lobbied heavily against the bill. The committee issued a report of "Inexpedient to Legislate" by a vote of 9-8 on 2/19/09 and the bill was killed.

New Mexico had a pair of hemp farming bills, SB 377 and HB 403, introduced on 1/28/09 and 1/28/09 and a pair of hemp study memorials, SM 30 and HM 47, introduced on 2/16/09 and 2/19/09. The farming bills were deferred and both the House and Senate passed the memorials, which were forwarded to the New Mexico Department of Agriculture and the state's Congressional delegation.

Oregon had a hemp farming bill, SB 676, introduced on 3/3/09. It was passed by the Senate by a vote of 27-2 on 6/19/09, passed by the House by a vote of 46-11 on 6/29/09 and was signed into law by the Governor on 8/4/09. Testimony by HIA members and others in the industry was crucial to the passage of this bill.

Vermont had a resolution, JRS 26, introduced on 3/27/09 in support of their hemp farming law, Act 212, which was passed in 2008, was passed by the House and Senate and the resolution was forwarded to DEA, the Secretary of Agriculture and the state's Congressional delegation. Licenses are not being issued by the Vermont Agency of Agriculture as there is a poison pill in the Act.

Wisconsin had a study bill, AB 206, introduced on 4/14/09. The bill was re-referred to the committee on Agriculture. A public hearing was held in committee on 11/12/09 and Vote Hemp provided written testimony. The bill is still active.

North Dakota is now issuing licenses to farmers to grow hemp under existing state law and North Dakota Department of Agriculture rules. There are also two new bills this year. HB 1549 is a bill to amend and reenact section 4-41-02 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to industrial hemp, the other is a concurrent resolution, HCR 3026, urging the United States Drug Enforcement Administration to allow North Dakota to regulate industrial hemp farming. In June 2007 the two North Dakota farmers granted state hemp farming licenses, Rep. David Monson and Wayne Hauge, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota in an effort to end the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) obstruction of commercial hemp farming in the United States. The case was dismissed by the District Court in November 2007. The prospective hemp farmers have appealed the decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and an opinion is expected in late 2009. Please see the Vote Hemp North Dakota Case page for the latest information on the case.

A federal hemp bill was introduced in Congress on 1/13/07. The bill excludes industrial hemp from the definition of "marihuana" in the Controlled Substances Act and gives states the exclusive authority to regulate the growing and processing of industrial hemp under state law. Please see our Federal Legislation page for much more information on H.R. 1866, the "Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2009."

All state hemp bills and resolutions introduced since 1995 are listed in the chart below the clickable map of the United States.