PHOENIX — The way Sonny Borrelli sees it, you could smoke a pound of hemp and all you’d get is smoke inhalation.
So the Republican senator from Lake Havasu City wants to amend the state’s criminal code to treat it different from marijuana, its more psychoactive version. Specifically, he wants to make its growing, sale and possession legal.
But the proposal in SB 1045 is drawing alarm from prosecutors who say that, whatever Borelli’s intent, the net effect could make it difficult, if not impossible, for them to prosecute those who are selling the much more potent version of the plant.
His legislation would amend existing law that is a laundry list of what drugs, both natural and synthetic, are illegal in Arizona, though some are legal with a prescription. They range from methamphetamines and coca leaves to other chemical compounds.
That list also includes marijuana. What Borelli wants is an exception for any plants with a concentration of THC, the psychoactive element of marijuana, of not more than 0.3 percent.
Borrelli sees it as a possible economic boost for Arizona farmers.
“For 400 years, we were growing it in this country,” he said. “They made canvases out of them.”
And Borrelli said if hemp were so dangerous it would be illegal to sell clothes, rope and other items made from the plant in Arizona. But it’s not. And even children can buy them.
“You can smoke a whole rope” made of hemp, he said. “There’s almost nothing in there to get high with. You’ll die of smoke inhalation.
“There’s no reason why it should not be grown for industrial use, like cotton, and exported.”
Borrelli is hardly plowing new ground.
The National Conference of State Legislatures reports that at least 16 states have legalized industrial hemp production for commercial purposes, with an additional 20 having laws allowing research and pilot programs. The conference reports that some are in compliance with federal laws that already allow research; some of the laws are conditional on changes in federal laws.
But none of that relieves the anxiety that his legislation raises among prosecutors, particularly since what Borrelli is proposing would make hemp production legal in Arizona, with or without federal approval.
Deputy Pima County Attorney Kathleen Mayer said at least part of the issue is that police officers will not be able to immediately tell the difference between what is being raised for textiles and what is being raised for recreational use.
“What this does is provide a built-in defense for smugglers,” she said.
“’No, officer, this is hemp, not marijuana,’ says the suspect,” said Mayer, imagining how the conversation between an officer and suspected smuggler would go.
She’s not alone in that concern.
“How does law enforcement tell the difference between a hemp load and the latest shipment from the Sinaloa Cartel,” said Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery.
And it’s even more complex than that: Whatever is seized then will have to be tested to figure out if the THC content is above or below the legal limit.
Bart Graves, spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety, said when samples are sent to his agency’s lab the only thing it tests for is whether or not it has THC.
“We do not say what percentage of the submitted item is THC,” he explained.
Mayer said if Borrelli’s measure were to become law, DPS would need new equipment to differentiate between marijuana and hemp.
