Politics
GOP Senator Attends Hemp Business Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, Vowing To Fight To Stop Looming Federal THC Product Ban
A GOP senator attended a ribbon cutting ceremony for a Kentucky hemp business on Monday, where he again previewed a forthcoming bill to regulate the crop as an alternative to its pending recriminalization under legislation that President Donald Trump signed last month.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) spoke about hemp policy issues and his plan to avert the new federal ban, which is set to take effect next November, at an event marking the opening of a Cornbread Hemp location in Louisville.
When hemp’s potential federal legalization was being considered as part of the 2018 Farm Bill that Trump signed in his first term, Paul said he thought that’d be “great,” particularly for Kentucky farmers who’ve seen losses as demand for tobacco has decreased. Creating a cannabis industry would also support ancillary businesses that aren’t plant-touching, he said.
Hemp legalization has been a “great success,” Paul added, “and I don’t want government to stifle this”
He also addressed arguments supporting the hemp ban that he described as “untrue,” including the idea that all cannabinoid products are being sold at gas stations and marketed in a way that targets youth. Kentucky—which enacted a regulatory framework for hemp that aims to mitigate those issues—is an example of how cannabis products can be responsibly sold to adult consumers, Paul said.
“I am worried about the legislation,” the senator added, referencing the appropriations measure that Trump signed last month with hemp ban provisions left intact despite Paul’s efforts to remove them. “We are working on new legislation, but I’ve got to convince my colleagues to change their opinion.”
“I think one of the ways we may be able to get this new legislation passed is simply not to set exact federal parameters, but to say, ‘look, if your state already regulates hemp, why don’t we let your state make these decisions—not the federal government. There still will be the question of going across state lines we have to tackle. We’re in the process of listening to people in the business, listening to the farmers and trying to come to some conclusion that we’ve got to change their minds. We have about a year.”
The senator—who laid partial blame for the pending hemp ban on alcohol and marijuana interests—also made the case that text of the recently enacted spending bill would effectively prohibit the sale of not just consumable cannabinoid products but also plants used for “non-edible purposes” such an clothing and building materials. That reflects the “idiocy” of the measure, he said.
Paul pointed to Cornbread Hemp as a business that would likely be unfairly impacted by the hemp policy change, and he said the opening of its latest facility is “good for Louisville” to support consumers and promote job creation.
“I think we should be open-minded to allowing adults to choose what they would like to take for a variety of conditions. And, apparently, millions of people think this is helpful to them–and then some simply use it as a drink to feel some effect as maybe having a beer,” Paul said. “But I’m proud of the companies.”
Paul has been sounding the alarm for weeks about the potential consequences of the hemp recriminalization provisions, which he said would cause mass job losses and a $25 billion industry to be “wiped out.”
The senator initially said he’d be imminently filing a bill to address the issue last month, describing the legislation during a webinar organized by the Kentucky Hemp Association. So far, the text has not been released, but Paul said it would make it so state policy regulating hemp cannabinoid products—with basic safeguards in place to prevent youth access, for example—”supersedes the federal law.”
“I like the approach of doing it [this way], because it’s not a direct repeal, and we’re [doing] an end-run around him,” Paul said. “And if a state doesn’t have laws—and they want to have a hemp industry—they’d get pretty busy at their state legislature and go ahead and put something in place so they can have a hemp industry, because I don’t think you can have one under [Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY)] law.”
Stakeholders say the new definition will devastate the market, as even non-intoxicating CBD items typically exceed the proposed 0.4 mg THC per container limit that is set to be enforced around this time next year.
Since a majority of his colleagues in the Senate opted to advance the appropriations bill, however, “now I’m asking them to repeal something they’ve already voted for,” Paul said. “But if I ask them to vote for language that lets their state make the decision on regulation, we might get more votes.”
Opposition to the ban crosses party lines, too. For example, Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) introduced a bill last week to create a federal regulatory framework for hemp-derived cannabinoids and allow states to set their own rules for products such as CBD. The measure is conceptually similar to what Paul previewed about his own legislation, but it also includes additional prescriptive regulatory controls that may conflict with the GOP senator’s more libertarian principles.
On the other end of the debate, Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD), who helped secure the hemp re-criminalization language, said last month that he’s not concerned about attempts to undercut the enacted law, brushing off arguments about the possible consequences of the policy change as “desperate mistruths from an industry that stands to lose billions of dollars by selling intoxicants to children.”
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Overall, there’s been widespread outcry over the pending hemp re-criminalization law, drawing criticism from parents of cannabis patients, veterinarians and influencers like Joe Rogan, for example.
In response to the hemp ban, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) filed a bill that would strike the contested provisions of the appropriations legislation. But some stakeholders worry that approach could backfire, and they’re hoping to see bipartisan bills introduced in he near future that would provide a robust regulatory model for intoxicating hemp products as a viable alternative to blanket prohibition.
Meanwhile, GOP political operative Roger Stone said last month that Trump was effectively “forced” by Republican lawmakers to sign the spending bill with the hemp THC ban language.
However, a White House spokesperson said prior to the bill signing that Trump specifically supported the prohibition language.
The Democratic governor of Kentucky said last month that the hemp industry is an “important” part of the economy that deserves to be regulated at the state level—rather than federally prohibited, as Congress has moved to do.
Also, a leading veterans organization is warning congressional leaders that the newly approved blanket ban on consumable hemp products could inadvertently “slam the door shut” on critical research.
While many hemp stakeholders say the ban would effectively eradicate the industry–even applying to nonintoxicating CBD products that people use for medical reasons—there’s latent hope that they can strike a compromise deal with lawmakers before the prohibition is implemented this time next year.
Lawmakers such as Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) also say that window could provide an opportunity to advance legislation to create an alternative regulatory model for consumable hemp products.
Since 2018, cannabis products have been considered legal hemp if they contain less than 0.3 percent delta-9 THC on a dry weight basis.
The new legislation specifies that, within one year of enactment, the weight will apply to total THC—including delta-8 and other isomers. It will also include “any other cannabinoids that have similar effects (or are marketed to have similar effects) on humans or animals as a tetrahydrocannabinol (as determined by the Secretary of Health and Human Services).”
The new definition of legal hemp will additionally ban “any intermediate hemp-derived cannabinoid products which are marketed or sold as a final product or directly to an end consumer for personal or household use” as well as products containing cannabinoids that are synthesized or manufactured outside of the cannabis plant or not capable of being naturally produced by it.
Legal hemp products will be limited to a total of 0.4 milligrams per container of total THC or any other cannabinoids with similar effects.
Within 90 days of the bill’s enactment, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other agencies will need to publish list of “all cannabinoids known to FDA to be capable of being naturally produced by a Cannabis sativa L. plant, as reflected in peer reviewed literature,” “all tetrahydrocannabinol class cannabinoids known to the agency to be naturally occurring in the plant” and “all other known cannabinoids with similar effects to, or marketed to have similar effects to, tetrahyrocannabinol class cannabinoids.”
The language slightly differs from provisions included in legislation that had previously advanced out of the House and Senate Appropriations panels, which would have banned products containing any “quantifiable” amount of THC, to be determined by the HHS secretary and secretary of agriculture.
