Politics
Illinois Governor And US Senator Push For Federal Hemp THC Product Ban To Take Effect Without Further Delay
The governor and lieutenant governor of Illinois, along with a U.S. senator that represents the state, released a policy agenda this week that calls on Congress to allow the planned federal recriminalization of hemp THC products to take effect without further delay.
Gov. JB Pritzker (D), Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton (D) and Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) on Wednesday published “Fighting for Illinois: Day One Agenda,” a document that contains roughly 200 policy proposals for Congress following this week’s midterm elections that gave Democrats a majority in both chambers.
One proposal of interest for the cannabis industry is to “let the federal ban on intoxicating hemp take effect.”
“Children can buy unlicensed, untested intoxicating hemp products at gas stations, corner stores, and smoke shops; children and adults in Illinois have overdosed or been sent to the ER,” the document says. “Continued sales also undercut Illinois’ licensed cannabis businesses and the social equity businesses at the core of its cannabis industry.”
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.
Now, however, under provisions included in a funding bill Trump signed in September, the effective date of the ban for most products is being pushed back to December 11 to give lawmakers more time to craft regulations for hemp derivatives. There is a carve-out, however, to allow the recriminalization on November 12 of synthetic cannabinoids “that are not capable of being naturally produced by a Cannabis sativa L. plant.”
In Illinois, Pritzker signed an omnibus cannabis reform bill in June that contains provisions to recriminalize hemp THC products with more than 0.4 milligrams of THC per container under state law, in line with the federal ban.
“Instead of letting an ambiguous marketplace keep putting people at risk, Illinois is taking action to protect consumers of all ages, especially children, from misleading packaging and labeling,” Pritzker said in a press release at the time. “This landmark legislation closes the intoxicating hemp loophole while bolstering equity and oversight and expanding medical access. Illinois is committed to cultivating a cannabis industry that benefits diverse businesses across the state and prioritizes accessibility, and I am proud to sign this measure into law.”
The new plan released by the governor and Stratton, who was just elected to a U.S. Senate seat, along with Duckworth, says that Congress should “oppose any further delay and any further amendment.”
“Let the ban take effect, and do not further regulate or legalize intoxicating hemp,” it says.
Duckworth, for her part, effectively voted in favor of delaying the originally scheduled ban by supporting a motion to table an amendment in August that sought to remove provisions from a funding bill that moved the effective date back.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), who is vacating the seat that Stratton was just elected to, voted against tabling the prohibitionist amendment from Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC).
Politico recently reported that alcohol industry lobbyists have pushed top state law enforcement officials to pressure Congress in support of keeping the federal recriminalization of hemp THC products on track.
The outlet said it had obtained a “collection of emails” in which lobbyists for major alcohol companies such as Anheuser-Busch, Molson Coors and Diageo urged state attorneys general to sign a letter that asked Congress not to reverse course on the scheduled hemp product ban.
Meanwhile in Illinois, the broad cannabis reform bill that Pritzker signed earlier this year also contains provisions to double the amount of marijuana that adults can legally possess, allow drive-thrus and curbside pickup at dispensaries and make it so medical cannabis certifications can be issued via telehealth, among other reforms.
In August, Illinois officials separately added sickle cell disease and polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS) with chronic pain as new medical cannabis qualifying conditions.
In September, a lawmaker filed a bill to create a new Illinois Freedom Program “for the purpose of issuing direct cash payments to eligible individuals who have been disproportionately impacted by historical cannabis enforcement.”
