Maine’s Republican Gov. Paul LePage has vetoed a nascent industrial hemp bill, LD4, for the state, saying simply that it would put Maine in violation of federal law.
The law would have allowed growing and planting of hemp under a licensing scheme which would have required seed to be purchased from approved Canadian seed producers.
It also would have canceled a clause from earlier Maine hemp bills that required applicants for an initial license to submit a set of fingerprints to the state commissioner of agriculture, as well as eliminate a requirement for documentation indicating that the seeds planted were a type and variety of hemp approved by the commissioner.
Finally, the measure would have repealed the provision that licensing is contingent on action by the federal government regarding industrial hemp’s federal legal status.