A Republican congressman is circulating a draft bill to regulate consumable hemp products—offering a potential alternative to the outright THC ban that some of his colleagues are pushing.
Morgan Griffith’s (R-VA), draft bill would allow adults over 21 to purchase hemp consumable products. This includes inhalables, edibles and beverages.
A summary of the Hemp Beverage Alliance’s proposal, in which it is gathering feedback from stakeholder groups, states that there would be a number of restrictions on the market.
The packaging, for instance, would have to appeal to adults and be resistant to tampering. The packaging would need to include a list of all the cannabinoids and QR codes linking to certificates of analysis.
Hemp product makers would be prohibited from adding substances like alcohol, caffeine, tobacco, nicotine, melatonin or others “with effects that could interact with cannabinoids or enhance or alter their effects.”
The hemp industry would be required to meet manufacturing and testing standards, as well as register its facilities.
Also, hemp products are subject to a cap of total cannabinoids. Within 60 days of the law’s enactment, it would be up to HHS (the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) to propose cannabinoid limit.
The default thresholds are set if the rules have not been implemented in three years.
- Hemp products that are not intoxicating: As low as 10mg / serving and up to 50mg / package
- Inhalable products As low as 100mg/serving or 500mg/package.
- Products that are topical As low as 100mg/serving or 500mg/package.
- Cannabinoids that are intoxicating (e.g. Products containing THC (e.g. It is possible to use up to 1 mg per package and 0.2mg per serving.
Adam Terry, the CEO of hemp beverage manufacturer Cantrip said that the THC limit is currently “low enough to constitute an effective ban.”
The Freedom Caucus Member of the Republican House, he said, “is very encouraged that someone has posted a hemp regulatory bill, even though it is not what I wanted today.”
The draft bill would require HHS to create and maintain a list known cannabinoids. This would need to be made public within one year after the bill is passed.
The measure would also amend the Food Drug & Cosmetic Act (FDCA) to create a new chapter for cannabinoid hemp products, and a new Cannabinoid Hemp Products Advisory Committee would be established.
Hemp Beverage Alliance says Griffith’s office “is still gathering feedback and input”; the organization “will be collecting and compiling all comments in the next few weeks,” to assist with a draft version.
The alliance stated that it was “grateful to see the positive language emerging from Washington and looks forward to working with Rep. Griffith’s office in order to develop further this legislation”.
MEDCAN24 contacted Griffith’s office to get a response, but a person was not readily available.
The proposed limit on intoxicating cannabinoids is likely to be a hotly debated provision. However, this bill represents an alternative to the House legislation to prohibit all hemp-based products that contain any amount of THC. The stakeholders say this would wipe out the hemp market, which has grown since the federal legalization of hemp under the Farm Bill 2018.
Rand Paul, a Republican Senator from Kentucky (R), said in an earlier statement that he plans to hold a meeting with House members to “reach compromise” regarding hemp regulation. This is due to his strong opposition to the THC prohibition proposal.
Mitch McConnell, R-KY, has denied that the legislation he supported in his chamber will “completely destroy the market”, as Paul and other industry stakeholders insisted. However, after a protest by Paul, McConnell agreed to remove the relevant language. The Senate has passed the relevant legislation.
Meanwhile, Paul recently filed a standalone bill that would go in the opposite direction of the hemp 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.
He introduced legislation in June entitled the Hemp Economic Mobilization Plan Act. It mirrors versions he’s sponsored over the last several sessions.
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A group of hemp stakeholders has protested the THC ban in hemp legislation. This was a version that had been included earlier last year, as part the base subcommittee bill. 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.
Jonathan Miller, general counsel at the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, told congressional lawmakers in April that the market is “begging” for federal regulations around cannabis products.
Rep. James Comer, R-KY, also asked about FDA’s inaction on regulations. He sarcastically asked if “a gazillion of bureaucrats who work at home” would be required to regulate CBD and other cannabinoids.
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.
Separately, one Democratic Senator insisted that the Senate passed agriculture spending measure included hemp research provisions. The senator called cannabis “one the oldest and versatile crops of agriculture.”
You can read the full text of Griffith’s draft discussion hemp bill here:
Brendan Cleak provided the photo.
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