Idaho State Police may get tests to tell apart hemp and pot

The Idaho State Police may purchase equipment that would allow investigators to distinguish hemp from marijuana.
The Idaho Statesman reports the state legislature’s Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on Friday approved about $240,000 for three testing devices for crime labs in Meridian, Pocatello and Coeur d’Alene.

The funding must be approved by the House and Senate.

Hemp, a cousin of marijuana, has a very low concentration of the psychoactive substance called THC that gives marijuana its high-inducing properties.

But Idaho troopers don’t have field tests that can tell the difference between marijuana — which is federally illegal — and hemp.

The issue came to a head in January when Idaho troopers seized a truckload of what they said was marijuana.

The company shipping the product says it is hemp and sued.