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Navajo Council Considers Hemp Pilot Project

The Navajo Nation Council is considering legislation that would authorize the tribe to conduct a hemp pilot project with New Mexico State University. 

The bill would allow university researchers to grow industrial hemp on a small part of land they’d lease from the Navajo Agricultural Products Industry. Strict rules would be in place for security and to make sure the plants do not test over the THC limit.

Delegate Mark Freeland, who sponsored the legislation, said in a statement the hemp industry could generate much needed revenue for the tribe. He said the federal government has been pushing tribes to produce mass quantities of hemp for combat fatigues.  

The Navajo Council will hold a special session Wednesday to discuss the legislation.

Laurel Morales was a Fronteras Desk senior field correspondent in Flagstaff from 2011 to 2020.