A GOP senator filed a proposal that triples the amount of THC that hemp can legally contain. The bill also addresses other concerns that industry members have expressed regarding federal regulations.
Rand Paul (R) of Kentucky introduced last week the Hemp Economic Mobilization Plan Act. This bill mirrors the versions of his legislation he sponsored during previous sessions.
Hemp and its derivatives were legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill, but the industry has experienced multiple setbacks in the years since—and the proliferation of intoxicating cannabinoid products has led to pushes in Congress and state legislatures across the country to reign in the largely unregulated market.
To that point, a GOP-led House committee this week approved a spending bill containing provisions that hemp stakeholders say would devastate the industry, prohibiting most consumable cannabinoid products that were federally legalized during the first Trump administration.
A Congressional Research Service Report (CRS), which cites the report, states that this legislation will “effectively” criminalize cannabinoid-containing hemp products. This includes CBD.
Paul’s newly-reintroduced bill would, on the other hand, address one of most frequent complaints from hemp companies that have been heard by lawmakers. This is the fact that under federal law, hemp is only allowed to contain 0.3 percent or less THC, measured in weight. This is too low for them, so they want to raise the threshold up to one percent.
This would also help to address any potential issues with the testing requirements set forth by U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations. The current window for hemp processors to test flower is 15 days. This allows them to make sure that THC levels are within acceptable limits. Farmers have complained that testing the flower would be a burden and stretch their limited resources.
The bill proposes that final products of hemp, not the flower, be tested to fix this problem.
In order to reduce the number of times that law enforcement officers mistakenly seize legal hemp for illicit marijuana, this legislation will also set documentation requirements on people who transport hemp. Documentation that can be used to prove legality of products is now more extensive under the bill.
Whereas the initial version of Paul’s measure filed in 2020 would have required them to carry a certificate from a lab demonstrating that the product contains no more than 1 percent THC, they could now instead choose to simply bring a copy of the hemp producer’s license.
The hemp industry is concerned about separate legislation, which could have a significant impact on the market.
While report language attached to the 2026 appropriations bill was recently amended to clarify lawmakers’ intent not to disrupt the non-intoxicating cannabinoid market—signaling that products like CBD shouldn’t be banned—the legislation itself hasn’t changed and could still jeopardize the industry without further amendments to its provisions.
Hemp industry participants rallied to oppose that proposal. A previous version was also in the base Bill from last year’s subcommittee. 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.
Members of Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) also met with lawmakers and staffers in April to advocate for three key policy priorities that the group says is based on “sound principles of alcohol distribution.” These include the banning of synthetic THC and setting up federal testing and labeling systems.
Separately, key GOP congressional lawmakers—including one member who supports marijuana legalization—don’t seem especially concerned about provisions in the new spending bill that would put much of the hemp industry in jeopardy by banning most consumable products derived from the plant.
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Jonathan Miller, general counsel of 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 asked sarcastically if “a gazillion of bureaucrats who work at home” would be needed 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.
The HEMP Act is below.
Marijuana Opponents ‘Have Lost’ The Debate, GOP Senator Says, Arguing ‘It’s Time’ To Regulate It Like Alcohol And Tobacco
Max Pixel provided the photo.
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