Massachusetts § 118 - Purposes for which industrial hemp may be planted, grown, harvested, possessed, processed or sold; registration and licensure

§ 118. Purposes for which industrial hemp may be planted, grown, harvested, possessed, processed or sold; registration and licensure

Section 118. (a) No person, other than a person utilizing hemp for commercial purposes pursuant to subsection (c) or a person utilizing industrial hemp for research pursuant to subsection (d), shall plant, grow, harvest, possess, process or sell industrial hemp without a license issued by the department.

(b) No person shall produce or distribute industrial hemp seed without a license issued by the department.

(c) A person utilizing hemp for commercial purposes shall register with the department.

(d) A person utilizing industrial hemp for research conducted under an agricultural pilot program or other agricultural or academic research shall register with the department.

(e) An application for a license issued pursuant to subsection (a) or (b) shall include, but not be limited to: (i) the name and address of any applicants; (ii) the name and address of the industrial hemp operation of the applicant; (iii) the global positioning system coordinates and legal description of the property used for the industrial hemp operation; (iv) the acreage size of the field where the industrial hemp will be grown, if applicable; (v) a written consent allowing the department to conduct both scheduled and random inspections of and around the premises on which the industrial hemp is being sown, grown, harvested, stored and processed; (vi) a nonrefundable application fee in an amount which shall be established by the commissioner; (vii) any other information as may be required pursuant to subsection (d); and (vii) any other information as may be required by the commissioner.

(f) All documents included in an application for licensure submitted under subsection (e) except for the address of a licensee's cultivation or production facilities and any documents describing, depicting or otherwise outlining a licensee's security schematics or global positioning system coordinates, which are considered by the department to be confidential in nature due to their public safety implications, shall be considered public records for the purposes of chapter 66.