John Trenton Pendarvis of Dorchester County, South Carolina, filed a federal lawsuit on September 16th against three South Carolina state agencies for destroying his hemp crops in 2019. He claims that the agencies “conspired” to deny his due process rights because the legal process for seeking approval is not clear.

The state argued that Pendarvis had grown his crops in an unregistered field, in violation of the state’s Hemp Farming Act. Derek Underwood, the assistant commissioner of the Agriculture Department’s Consumer Protection Division accused the farmer of “willful violation” and then pursued approval from the state agency to destroy the crop.

Pendarvis claimed that droughts had forced him to move his crops to a different location, and he had filed an amendment application to register the fields. He is the first person charged with a misdemeanor crime under the state’s Hemp Farming Act.

While South Carolina is still one of the minorities of states that have not legalized medical marijuana, they allow commercial hemp cultivation. The Hemp Farming Act, signed in March 2019 by Republican Governor Henry McMaster found that the “cash crop” of hemp could “enhance the economic diversity and stability of state’s agricultural industry.” Under this legislation, farmers must report their hemp crops’ coordinates to the state’s Department of Agriculture, and farmers cannot grow plants that exceed the federal THC limits.

This South Carolina law has already been criticized before the lawsuit was filed for having unclear enforcement mechanisms. South Carolina Solicitor General Bob Cook called the statute “ultra murky.”

THC, or Tetrahydrocannabinol, is a compound found in the resin secreted by glands of the marijuana plant, the same species of plants that hemp comes from. The chemical attaches to and affects certain cannabinoid receptors in the brain that are associated with “thinking, memory, pleasure, coordination, and time perception.”

Cannabinoids, or CBD, on the other hand, while also a compound found in the resin secreted by the plant, are non-psychoactive. They even block the high that is associated with THC. Industrial hemp has only small amounts of THC and can be used for anything from rope and paper to vegan alternative products like non-dairy milk.

In 2018, then-President Donald Trump signed the Agricultural Improvement Act, also known as the Farm Bill, which drastically changed the landscape for hemp farmers. The federal bill defined hemp as a cannabis plant containing no more than 0.3% of THC on a dry weight basis. The bill further allowed for hemp-derived products to be sold and transferred across state lines and took away restrictions on the sale and transport of the items as long as the product complies with the bill’s definition of hemp.

While the 2018 Farm Bill paved the way for the hemp industry to commercialize, there is still a stigma on the product because it is derived from the same plant species as marijuana. Section 12619 of the bill removed hemp-derived products from Schedule I status under the Controlled Substances Act, but it does not legalize CBD – which hemp can be used to create.

Under Article 14 of the U.S. Constitution, no state shall “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” In other words, legal matters must be resolved according to the laws that have been enacted.

The complaint filed by Pendarvis states that law enforcement did not follow through with the South Carolina attorney general’s office's advice to “seek judicial authorization” to ensure that due process rights are not violated before destroying the crops. Local law enforcement was not able to get a local judge to sign their seizure and destruction order, but when the judge offered to hold a hearing on the matter, law enforcement instead obtained an arrest warrant from another magistrate.