A new crackdown is being put in place that’s causing some confusion amongst hemp users and producers.
As more and more CBD stores pop up around Greenville, the State Law Enforcement Division is clarifying exactly what is allowed to be sold at those stores.
Basing its recent clarification on the law of the Hemp Farming Act of 2019, which was signed into law by Governor Henry McMaster back in March, SLED accounted that it is still illegal to possess raw or unprocessed hemp.
You can possess hemp that’s in a finished product, such as hemp clothing or CBD oil, for instance, but if you’ve got a big ole handful of raw hemp, that could land you behind bars.
The reasoning is that there’s no way for law enforcement to physically differentiate between marijuana and raw hemp, both in terms of appearance and scent. Law enforcement says even most lab tests can’t tell the two apart.
For now CBD stores with raw hemp are in limbo about whether or not they have to immediately destroy it or if they can still use it to make finished products.
