Marijuana not part of North Dakota's corporate farming ban
Source: Associated Press
Marijuana not part of North Dakota’s corporate farming ban
By BLAKE NICHOLSON
Today
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota’s Great Depression-era law banning corporate farming won’t preclude horticulture operations from growing medical marijuana, provided it’s not done on agricultural land, the state’s attorney general has determined.
The state health department sought clarification from Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem on how the program voters approved in November 2016 will apply to large corporations, which are barred from owning and operating farms. The agency is in the process of accepting applications from potential marijuana growers, which might include large corporations.
The intent of the longstanding ban is to protect the state’s family farming heritage. Two years ago, voters overwhelmingly rejected an effort to exempt hog and dairy operations from the ban in order to boost those dying industries.
But marijuana presented a different legal dilemma. Some members of the Legislature’s Administrative Rules Committee said last month that they thought lawmakers last year had made it clear that medical marijuana production was not to be considered an agricultural operation.
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