The industry has won a victory after a GOP senator successfully blocked the proposed ban of hemp THC-based products, which was part of a major spending bill.
Following intensive debates around the language—which would have prohibited hemp products with any quantifiable amount of THC—Sen. Rand Paul, R-KY, stood by his position and threatened to block the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration Appropriations Bill (Ag/FDA) on a procedural basis. To that end, Rand Paul (R-KY) prevailed and got the section deleted.
Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY), a champion of the legalization federal hemp and its derivatives as part of the 2018 Farm Bill, desired that the hemp prohibition proceed. Politico reports that Sen. John Hoeven of North Dakota, the chair of appropriations’ subcommittee, said to reporters on Tuesday the ban had been removed.
Hoeven, in a reference to Paul McConnell said: “We couldn’t get an agreement between them.”
The hemp ban is still in the House version, which includes the Agriculture Appropriations Bill. It’s therefore possible that this language will end up being included in the final legislation, sent to President Obama’s desk, later this year.
Jonathan Miller of the U.S. Hemp Roundtable said to MEDCAN24, “We are deeply grateful for Senator Paul standing up for hemp.” They’re also “quite encouraged” with the “intense negotiations that occurred.”
While a deal of substance was not reached in a formal way, it is our hope that this effort will lead to a compromise protecting the hemp farming industry.
Paul said to Politico, “We have hemp farmers here in my state and the language used will ruin them” before the remarks of the chairman.
He said, “We’ve told them that we would give our consent for the ride to begin. But we don’t want this horrendous language.”
In the recent debate on federal hemp law, there has been tension between industry players and those who support the federal ban. These marijuana supporters claim that hemp business owners are getting a pass under current federal laws while marijuana businesses licensed by state continue to struggle.
The American Trade Association of Cannabis and Hemp’s (ATACH) vice president of state advocacy and policy, Chris Lindsey told MEDCAN24 that the issue was primarily due to arcane Senate procedures, and not a lack of public support.
He stated that “there is strong bipartisan support for affirming original intentions of the 2018 Farm Bill.” “We’ll continue working with Congress to address the dangers associated with chemically-converted THC products, while safeguarding CBD products and industrial hemp.”
MEDCAN24 contacted Paul’s office to get a response, but a spokesperson was not 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 MEDCAN24 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. It’s hard to find CBD products without natural THC traces.
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.
In June, the senator presented the Hemp Economic Mobilization Plan Act (HEMP). This bill mirrors the versions he sponsored during previous sessions.
Harris, for his part, told MEDCAN24 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. It was originally said that this ban would prohibit the sale of CBD products as well. However, the CRS updated its report to eliminate that language.
The hemp language is largely consistent with appropriations and agriculture legislation that was introduced, but not ultimately enacted, under the last Congress.
Hemp stakeholders protested this proposal. An earlier version was included last year in the base legislation from the 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.
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.
Rep. James Comer asked if “a gazillion home-based bureaucrats” would be needed to oversee cannabinoids, such as CBD, at the hearing.
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.
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