BOISE, Idaho (AP) – Idaho Gov. Brad Little has issued an executive order aligning Idaho law enforcement activities with federal law to allow the transport of hemp across the state.
The Republican governor issued the order Tuesday in the wake of a U.S. Department of Agriculture interim rule published in late October.
Little says Idaho is likely in conflict with federal law.
Little says the executive order is needed to temporarily resolve the conflict until state lawmakers find a permanent solution.
Federal law prevents states from prohibiting the transportation of legal hemp. But Idaho’s anti-marijuana laws are so broadly written that they include hemp.
In January, Idaho authorities arrested a truck driver and seized nearly 7,000 pounds (3,175 kilograms) of what they believed to be marijuana, even though the company shipping the material said accompanying paperwork made clear it was industrial hemp.
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