Code of Maryland Regulations › Title 15 - MARYLAND DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE › Subtitle 01 - OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY › Chapter 15.01.17 - Hemp Farming Program › Section 15.01.17.02 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 14, July 12, 2024
A. In this chapter,
				the following terms have the meanings indicated.
B. Terms Defined.
(1) "Acceptable hemp THC level" means the
				application of the measurement uncertainty to the reported total delta-9
				tetrahydrocannabinol content concentration level on a dry weight basis
				producing a distribution or range that includes 0.3 percent or less total
				THC.
(2) "Applicant" means a
				person, or for a business entity, a person authorized to act on behalf of the
				business entity, who applies to the Department to become a licensed hemp grower
				in the State.
(3) "Authorized
				agent" means a sampling agent who has received a certificate of completion of
				training from USDA or the Department and has been approved by the Department to
				sample hemp under the Program.
(4)
				"Authorized laboratory" means a laboratory that is:
(a) DEA registered; or
(b) Accredited to ISO17025:2017.
(5) Cannabis.
(a) "Cannabis" means a genus of flowering
				plants in the family Cannabaceae of which Cannabis sativa is a species, and
				Cannabis indicia and Cannabis ruderalis are subspecies thereof
(b) "Cannabis" includes any form of the plant
				in which the delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol concentration on a dry weight basis
				has not yet been determined
(6) "CBD" means cannabidiol.
(7) "Conviction" means any plea of guilty or
				nolo contendere, or any finding of guilt, except when the finding of guilt is
				subsequently overturned on appeal, pardoned, or expunged
(8) "Culpable mental state greater than
				negligence" means to act intentionally, knowingly, willfully or
				recklessly
(9) "Cultivate" means to
				plant, water, grow, or harvest a plant or crop.
(10) "DEA" means the United States Drug
				Enforcement Administration.
(11)
				"Decarboxylated" means the completion of the chemical reaction that converts
				THC-A into delta-9-THC, the intoxicating component of cannabis. The
				decarboxylated value may also be calculated using a conversion formula that
				sums delta-9-THC and THC-A.
(12)
				"Decarboxylation" means the removal or elimination of a carboxyl group from a
				molecule or organic compound
(13)
				"Delta-9-THC or THC" means delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol concentration, the
				primary intoxicating component of cannabis.
(14) "Department" means the Maryland
				Department of Agriculture.
(15)
				"Disposal or destruction" means the procedure to render a plant or a product
				derived from such plant unusable by burning incorporating with other materials,
				or other methods approved by the Department consistent with USDA
				guidelines.
(16) "Dry weight basis"
				means the ratio of the amount of dry solid in a sample after drying to the
				total mass of the sample before drying, including the moisture in a
				sample.
(17) "GPS" means Global
				Positioning System.
(18) "Growing
				area" means either an outdoor or an enclosed indoor area where hemp is
				cultivated
(19) "Hemp" means the
				plant Cannabis sativa L. and any part of that plant, including all derivatives,
				extracts, cannabinoids, isomers, acids, salts, and salts of isomers, whether
				growing or not, with a total delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol concentration that
				does not exceed 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis.
(20) "Hemp greens" means hemp leaves from
				immature plants that are no more than 10 inches tall and are not
				flowering.
(21) "Hemp microgreens"
				means immature hemp seedlings for human consumption that are:
(a) Cut off above the soil or substrate line
				and harvested before flowering and not more than 14 days after germination;
				and
(b) Typically, between 2 and 3
				inches in height, but not taller than 5 inches.
(22) "Hemp transplants" means nonflowering
				hemp seedlings, rooted cuttings, immature plants produced from tissue culture,
				or other means of reproduction, which are not harvested but transplanted into a
				large container or field to mature for harvest.
(23) Key Participant.
(a) "Key participant" means a sole
				proprietor, a partner in partnership, or a person with executive managerial
				control in a corporation, such as a chief executive officer or chief operating
				officer
(b) "Key participant" does
				not include a nonexecutive manager, such as a farm, field or shift
				manager
(24) "Law
				enforcement agency" means the Maryland State Police, DEA, or other federal
				state, or local law enforcement agency or drug suppression unit
(25) "License" means written authorization by
				the Department permitting a person to cultivate, store, handle, or market hemp
				in the State.
(26) Licensed Area.
(a) "Licensed area" means the land area shown
				in an approved licensing application, or, subsequently, in an approved site
				modification plan, on which a hemp grower plans to cultivate, store, or handle
				hemp.
(b) "Licensed area" includes
				growing areas, storage facilities, and other areas that are to be used in the
				grower's hemp operation.
(27) "Licensed grower" means a person
				possessing a license issued by the Department under the authority of this
				chapter to cultivate, store, handle, or market hemp.
(28) "Lot" means a contiguous area in a
				field, greenhouse, or indoor facility growing the same variety or strain of
				hemp that was planted at the same time throughout this area.
(29) "Map" means a diagram depicting all
				borders of the hemp operation, including the nearest roads to aid in
				orientation, the cardinal direction north, and the boundaries of the legally
				described parcel on which the hemp operation is located
(30) "Measurement uncertainty" or "MU" means
				the parameter associated with the result of a measurement that characterizes
				the dispersion of the values that could be reasonably attributed to the
				measurement
(31) Negligent
				Violation.
(a) "Negligent violation" means a
				failure to exercise the level of care that a reasonably prudent person would
				exercise in complying with the requirements of this chapter
(b) "Negligent violation" does not include
				intentional misconduct
(32) "Nonmarketable hemp" means hemp that
				exceeds the acceptable hemp THC level.
(33) "Official sample" means the pre-harvest
				hemp sample collected by the Department, in accordance with Department policy,
				which is used to assess the THC concentration of a single lot of
				hemp.
(34) "Person" means an
				individual, partnership, corporation, limited liability company, association,
				or any business entity by whatever name designated and whether or not
				incorporated unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
(35) "Program" means the Hemp Farming Program
				established under this chapter
(36)
				"Propagule" means a plant or plant part that can be utilized to grow a new
				plant
(37) "THC-A" means
				tetrahydrocannabinolic acid, a precursor to THC.
(38) "USDA" means the U.S. Department of
				Agriculture.
(39) "Variety" means a
				group of plants or an individual plant that exhibits a distinctive observable
				physical characteristic or has a distinct genetic composition.
(40) "Volunteer plant" means a hemp plant
				that was not intentionally planted by the person licensed to grow hemp, but
				results from a previous crop, growing on its own accord from seeds or roots in
				the years following an intentionally planted hemp crop.