Politics
Bipartisan Lawmakers Turn Focus To Regulating Hemp THC Products Now That A Federal Ban Is Being Delayed
House and Senate lawmakers from both major parties say it’s time for Congress to get to work crafting regulations for hemp THC products now that legislation to delay a scheduled ban on them is poised to be enacted.
Hemp derivatives with less than 0.3 percent delta-9 THC on a dry-weight basis were federally legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill that President Donald Trump signed during his first term in office. But late last year, the president signed new legislation containing provisions that redefined hemp to make it so only products with 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container would remain legal after November 12.
The House of Representatives on Tuesday, however, approved a Senate-passed funding bill that contains provisions to delay the effective date of most parts of the hemp product ban, with an exception for synthetics, until December 11.
Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-MT) said in a video posted to social media after the vote that his home state of Montana has an “an incredibly strong hemp industry” and that he and other lawmakers have “fought hard to make sure that hemp-derived beverages and those pain management products that are so important for our seniors and veterans remain legal.”
The senator posted the video after meeting with members of the hemp industry.
“We’re standing here supporting this industry because it’s critical to our farmers and it’s critical to our veterans and seniors. Our veterans and seniors for too long have been pushed to use opioids and alcohol for pain management, and hemp-derived beverages have provided a very healthy and easily accessible alternative,” he said. “We’re trying to regulate the industry so that only adults can access these beverages, they are FDA approved and healthy and, most importantly, they’re an alternative for folks to use besides the opioids and besides alcohol.”
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) said the House’s vote to send the delay of the ban to Trump’s desk this week is “good news for Minnesota’s farmers, brewers, small businesses, and customers.”
“The President should sign this bipartisan bill into law immediately,” she said. “This delay will give Minnesota hemp’s producers, retailers, and customers certainty, and give Congress more time to get to a long-term fix.”
Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) noted in a press release that she and her home-state colleague Klobuchar “worked hard to delay this ban until December, which will now be signed into law.”
“Adults should have the freedom to purchase a THC beverage if they want to. Minnesota has created one of the strongest, most carefully regulated systems in the country to allow the sale of hemp products,” she said. “The initial ban set to take place was ill-advised and would have hurt both hemp farmers and Minnesota breweries alike. We still need a long-term solution for this, but for now the industry can keep moving forward.”
Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA) sent a press release touting a bill he introduced this session to keep hemp products legal and regulate them.
“American producers and consumers deserve nothing less than a system that upholds oversight, responsibility and safety. My bill, the HEMP Act, helps do this by getting the ball rolling on the establishment of necessary federal guardrails,” he said. “I believe that should my bill receive collective buy-in from the White House, lawmakers and stakeholders, the HEMP Act can become law.”
Meanwhile, a handful of other congressional Republicans threatened this week to upend their leadership’s agenda in protest of the hemp product ban delay advancing, but they did not succeed.
The funding bill’s provision to delay the ban, which is supported by the White House and is now headed to Trump to be signed into law, contains a carve-out to allow the immediate recriminalization on November 12 of synthetic cannabinoids “that are not capable of being naturally produced by a Cannabis sativa L. plant.”
A number of lawmakers from both chambers and both parties have filed or are circulating a growing number of bills to prevent the scheduled federal recriminalization of hemp THC drinks and other products. Until now, none of those proposals have gained traction with congressional leaders.
For example, Reps. Beth Van Duyne (R-TX) and Greg Landsman (D-OH) filed a bill to keep hemp THC drinks legal while taxing and regulating them like alcohol.
Rep. James Comer (R-KY), who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is circulating legislation that would delay a planned federal ban on hemp THC products and institute some regulations—including packaging requirements, testing rules and age limits.
Separately, Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY), filed a lengthier proposal to prevent the federal recriminalization of hemp THC products and put in place a number of regulations for manufacturing, labeling, sales and taxation of hemp-derived products, including an age limit of 21.
