An Act To Make Changes to the State's Hemp Program
Maine Legislature, Session 130, LD 1942
Committee: Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry
Amends: 7 MRSA §2231

Legislative Document
No. 1942
S.P. 683
In Senate, January 26, 2022
An Act To Make Changes to the State's Hemp Program
Reported by Senator DILL of Penobscot for the Joint Standing Committee on Agriculture, 
Conservation and Forestry pursuant to Resolve 2021, chapter 32, section 1.
Reference to the Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry suggested and 
ordered printed pursuant to Joint Rule 218.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  7 MRSA §2231, sub-§1-A, ¶A, as enacted by PL 2019, c. 528, §1, is 
amended to read:
A.  "Certified seed source" means a source of hemp seeds that are certified by a 3rd 
party 
as 
producing 
hemp 
having 
a 
delta‑9‑tetrahydrocannabinol 
total 
tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of not more than 0.3% 1% on a dry weight basis.
Sec. 2.  7 MRSA §2231, sub-§1-A, ¶D, as enacted by PL 2019, c. 528, §1, is 
amended to read:
D.  "Hemp" means the plant Cannabis sativa L. and any part of that plant, including 
the seeds and all derivatives, extracts, cannabinoids, isomers, acids, salts and salts of 
isomers, whether growing or not, with a delta‑9‑tetrahydrocannabinol total 
tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of not more than 0.3% 1% on a dry weight basis, 
or as otherwise defined in federal law.  "Hemp" includes agricultural commodities and 
products derived from hemp and topical or ingestible consumer products, including 
food, food additives and food products derived from hemp, which in their final forms 
contain a delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol total tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of not 
more than 0.3% or as otherwise defined in federal law 1%.  "Hemp" does not include 
marijuana for medical use pursuant to Title 22, chapter 558‑C or adult use marijuana 
pursuant to Title 28‑B, chapter 1.
Sec. 3.  7 MRSA §2231, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2019, c. 12, Pt. B, §1, is further 
amended to read:
2.  Growing permitted.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, 
a person may plant, grow, harvest, possess, process, sell and buy hemp if that person holds 
a license issued pursuant to subsection 4, except that a person may plant and grow up to 3 
hemp plants on no more than one acre of land area or within an indoor facility and harvest, 
possess and process that hemp for personal use without a license. A person may also plant, 
grow, harvest, possess, process, sell and buy hemp in accordance with a license issued to 
that person by the United States Department of Agriculture pursuant to 7 United States 
Code, Section 1639q or any other federal statute or regulation. A grower licensee may 
plant, grow and harvest only hemp that is grown from seeds saved by the grower licensee 
as provided in paragraph A, acquired from a certified seed source, grown from a clone that 
is produced from seeds acquired from a certified seed source or propagated from tissue 
cultures that are removed from live plants grown from seeds acquired from a certified seed 
source.  A grower licensee may acquire hemp seeds directly from a certified seed source or 
from a hemp seed distributor licensed in this State distributing hemp seeds pursuant to 
subsection 2‑A.
A.  A grower licensee may save seeds from hemp plants that the person has grown and 
harvested and, after having ensured through testing by an independent 3rd-party tester 
that the plants that will grow from the seeds will meet the definition of hemp, may use 
those seeds for breeding and planting hemp.
B.  A grower licensee, within 14 days after planting hemp seeds or clones, shall provide 
to the commissioner a listing of the varieties of seeds or clones planted and a statement 
that the seeds or clones meet the definition of hemp.  This paragraph may not be 
interpreted to require providing the information required by this paragraph to the 
commissioner in advance of an application to grow hemp.
SUMMARY
This bill is reported out by the Joint Standing Committee on Agriculture, Conservation 
and Forestry pursuant to Resolve 2021, chapter 32.  The committee is reporting the bill out 
for the sole purpose of turning the proposal into a printed bill that can be referred to the 
committee for an appropriate public hearing and subsequent processing in the normal 
course.  The committee has not taken a position on the substance of this bill, and by 
reporting this bill out the committee is not suggesting and does not intend to suggest that it 
agrees or disagrees with any aspect of this bill.
The bill changes the definitions of “hemp” and “certified seed source” by increasing 
the amount of allowable tetrahydrocannabinol concentration from a delta-9-
tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of not more than 0.3% on a dry weight basis, or as 
otherwise defined in federal law, to a total tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of not more 
than 1% on a dry weight basis.  Current law provides that a person may plant, grow, harvest, 
possess, process, sell and buy hemp if that person holds a license issued by the State, except 
that a person may plant and grow up to 3 hemp plants on no more than one acre of land 
area or within an indoor facility and harvest, possess and process that hemp for personal 
use without a license.  This bill provides that a person may also plant, grow, harvest, 
possess, process, sell and buy hemp if that person holds a license issued by the United 
States Department of Agriculture.