Politics
House Committee Blocks Vote On GOP Lawmaker’s Amendment To Stop Hemp Ban, While Senator Floats Regulatory Alternative
As the House prepares to vote on a Senate-passed spending bill with provisions to ban consumable hemp products, one GOP representative’s final push to strike the prohibition language has failed. At the same time, a Democratic senator says Congress should take the one-year before its implementation to develop a regulatory framework to preserve legal access to certain hemp products.
Ahead of the Senate vote on Monday, Sen. Paul Rand (R-KY) tried to eliminate language championed by Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to prohibit hemp products containing THC. But while he was joined by 22 Democrats and, notably, anti-marijuana Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) in voting against a motion to table the amendment, the majority ultimately quashed it.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) then took up the mantle, filing an amendment mirroring Paul’s ahead of House consideration of the appropriations package.
It was not made in order for floor consideration by the House Rules Committee, however.
The prospects of its adoption were dubious at best, as there’s generally consensus within the Republican caucus that the spending bill should advance without further modifications that would send it back to the Senate, renewing the risk that it’d face additional delays in getting to the president’s desk and putting an end to an ongoing government shutdown.
Indeed, none of the other 85 amendments on separate topics filed before the committee were allowed to advance either.
Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA) said at a hearing of the panel on Tuesday that he didn’t “agree with the solution they came up with” to the hemp issue, referring to the ban championed by McConnell and Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD).
However, “I’m voting for [the underlying bill] because I’ve got too many people that need the government to open,” the congressman said. He added that while there may be “great” amendments that members submitted, “I’m not voting for any of them because we need to get this thing done—and then we can start negotiating on other things.”
On the Senate side, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) supported the hemp ban language in Monday’s vote, stating that he’s “concerned that existing federal law creates the opportunity for unregulated and intoxicating synthetic hemp products to be marketed and sold to children.”
“Current Maryland law bans these products, but without federal action, they can still be distributed in our state. The language in the underlying bill would close that loophole, while the Paul amendment would leave the loophole in place,” he said.
But Van Hollen left the door open for future reforms around hemp.
The senator said Congress should use the year after enactment of the law—before the ban is officially implemented—to “ensure a sustainable pathway forward for safe hemp products like CBD, which many people depend on to safely manage pain and other health conditions.”
“We ultimately need balanced, science-based regulation that preserves access to safe products while protecting public health,” Van Hollen said.
Meanwhile, advocates are sharply criticizing congressional leaders for advancing the spending bill ahead of Veterans Day on Tuesday that also omits bipartisan provisions allowing U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) doctors to recommend medical cannabis to patients in states where it’s legal—even though the policy was approved by the full Senate and House earlier this year.
