JACKSON CO., S.D. (KELO.com) — A truck driver transporting hundreds of pounds of hemp to Minnesota from Colorado has been arrested in South Dakota and charged with marijuana possession.
The Minnesota Hemp Association’s Joe Radinovich complains that South Dakota is violating the 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized hemp.
“Because of the actions of South Dakota Law Enforcement and the inability of Governor Noem and the South Dakota Legislature to resolve this issue, the businessmen involved have lost tens of thousands of dollars.”
Radinovich says the load of hemp had been tested in Colorado to ensure that it was well below the legal threshold to be categorized as marijuana.
The driver was stopped for speeding in Jackson County in July on Interstate 90. The arrest affidavit said that the trooper “smelled a strong odor of marijuana.”
Hemp is legal in 47 states, but not in South Dakota. A State Highway Patrol Spokesman points out that transporting hemp, that happens to be legal in other states, through South Dakota is still illegal.
Governor Noem has said that one of the problems she has with legalizing hemp is the law enforcement challenges because of its connection to marijuana.
