Politics
GOP Senator Successfully Blocks Federal Hemp THC Ban In Key Spending Bill
A GOP senator has successfully blocked a proposed ban on hemp THC products that was included in a key spending bill, giving the industry a win amid contentious discussions around intoxicating cannabinoids.
Following intensive debates around the language—which would have prohibited hemp products with any quantifiable amount of THC—Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) stood his ground with a threat to procedurally hold up the appropriations bill covering Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration (Ag/FDA). And to that end, he prevailed in getting the section removed.
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who championed the federal legalization of hemp and its derivatives under the 2018 Farm Bill, wanted to see the hemp ban proceed through the process. But on Tuesday, Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND), chair of the appropriations subcommittee of jurisdiction, told reporters it was ultimately stripped from the legislation, as Politico reported.
“We could never get agreement between the two,” Hoeven said, referring to Paul and McConnell.
When asked whether he feels the hemp ban removal would clear the path to advance the underlying bill ahead of an August recess, the chair said, “I sure hope so.”
A spokesperson for McConnell, meanwhile, said on Tuesday that he “doesn’t want to hold up the process” on spending legislation over hemp and will be “working with the committee on a path forward.”
It should be noted, however, that the hemp ban provisions are still included in the House version of the agriculture appropriations bill, so it’s possible the the language could end up making it into the final version of legislation sent to the president’s desk later this year.
Jonathan Miller, general counsel at the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, told Marijuana Moment that the organization is “deeply grateful to Senator Paul for standing up for the hemp industry,” and they’re “quite encouraged by the intense negotiations that took place.”
“While a substantive deal was not formally reached, we’re hopeful that, from this work, a compromise that protects the hemp industry and hemp farmers will ultimately prevail,” he said.
Ahead of the subcommittee chairman’s remarks on the deal, Paul told Politico that “we have hemp farmers in my state, and this language will destroy them.”
“We told them we’d give consent to get on it, but we want that horrendous language out,” he said.
The debate around federal hemp laws has created tension between the industry and certain players in the marijuana space who supported the ban, arguing that current policies have given hemp businesses a free pass as state-licensed marijuana operators continue to struggle under federal prohibition.
“This has everything to do with arcane Senate procedure, not a lack of support,” Chris Lindsey, vice president of policy and state advocacy at the American Trade Association of Cannabis and Hemp (ATACH), told Marijuana Moment.
“In fact, there is strong bipartisan and bicameral backing for affirming the original intent of the 2018 Farm Bill,” he said. “We will continue to work with Congress to confront the dangers of chemically-converted synthetic THC products while safeguarding CBD and industrial hemp products.”
Marijuana Moment reached out to Paul’s office for comment, but a representative was not immediately available.
Under the legislation that advanced through the Senate Appropriations Committee earlier this month, consumable hemp products with any “quantifiable” amount of THC would be banned.
Paul told Marijuana Moment late last month that the proposal—which largely mirrors provisions of a House version of the spending bill, championed by Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD)—would “completely destroy” the industry.
On the House side, while Harris amended report language attached to the chamber’s bill clarifying that it’s not the intent to stop people from accessing “industrial or non-intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoid products with trace or insignificant amounts of THC,” the bill itself still says that products containing any “quantifiable” amounts of THC couldn’t be marketed. And it’s rare to find CBD items without any natural traces of THC.
Paul recently filed a bill that would go in the opposite direction of Harris’s ban, proposing to triple the concentration of THC that the crop could legally contain, while addressing multiple other concerns the industry has expressed about federal regulations.
The senator introduced the legislation, titled the Hemp Economic Mobilization Plan (HEMP) Act, in June. It mirrors versions he’s sponsored over the last several sessions.
Harris, for his part, told Marijuana Moment that he’s not concerned about any potential opposition in the Senate—and he also disputed reports about the scope of what his legislation would do to the industry.
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) released a report last month stating that the legislation would “effectively” prohibit hemp-derived cannabinoid products. Initially it said that such a ban would prevent the sale of CBD as well, but the CRS report was updated to exclude that language for reasons that are unclear.
The hemp language is largely consistent with appropriations and agriculture legislation that was introduced, but not ultimately enacted, under the last Congress.
Hemp industry stakeholders rallied against that proposal, an earlier version of which was also included in the base bill from the subcommittee last year. It’s virtually identical to a provision of the 2024 Farm Bill that was attached by a separate committee last May via an amendment from Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL), which was also not enacted into law.
A leading alcohol industry association, meanwhile, has called on Congress to dial back language in the House spending bill that would ban most consumable hemp products, instead proposing to maintain the legalization of naturally derived cannabinoids from the crop and only prohibit synthetic items.
Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) President and CEO Francis Creighton said in a press release that “proponents and opponents alike have agreed that this language amounts to a ban.”
Separately, key GOP congressional lawmakers—including one member who supports marijuana legalization—don’t seem especially concerned about provisions in the bill despite concern from stakeholders that it would put much of the hemp industry in jeopardy by banning most consumable products derived from the plant.
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Miller, of the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, told congressional lawmakers in April that the market is “begging” for federal regulations around cannabis products.
At the hearing, Rep. James Comer (R-KY) also inquired about FDA inaction around regulations, sarcastically asking if it’d require “a gazillion bureaucrats that work from home” to regulate cannabinoids such as CBD.
A report from Bloomberg Intelligence (BI) last year called cannabis a “significant threat” to the alcohol industry, citing survey data that suggests more people are using cannabis as a substitute for alcoholic beverages such a beer and wine.
Last November, meanwhile, a beer industry trade group put out a statement of guiding principles to address what it called “the proliferation of largely unregulated intoxicating hemp and cannabis products,” warning of risks to consumers and communities resulting from THC consumption.
