Congress pushes hemp crackdown after pressure from states, marijuana industry

By Kevin Hardy Stateline org A provision significantly limiting the sale of intoxicating hemp products made its way into rule to reopen the federal governing body just a day before the Senate approved the bill Its inclusion follows years of pressure from states and the marijuana industry While states continue to expand access to legal marijuana a separate area of hemp-derived intoxicants has blossomed The products from drinks to gummies are sold in gas stations and smoke shops Critics say particular companies have exploited a legal loophole from to manufacture products that get people high without the safety regulations and taxes facing the legal marijuana industry That s led dozens of states to limit or ban certain intoxicating hemp products Majority states also have pushed for federal changes though certain farm states worry the pending federal bill which the House is expected to vote on as soon as nowadays goes too far A bipartisan group of state attorneys general in recent times urged Congress to clarify the federal definition of hemp arguing that the underregulated industry threatens general physical condition and undermines law enforcement Texas lawmakers this year approved a strict ban on intoxicating hemp but that measure was vetoed by Republican Gov Greg Abbott The governor raised constitutional concerns because federal law allowed the products but he then issued an executive order increasing state agency regulations including age restrictions This summer Florida regulators seized tens of thousands of packages of hemp products that failed to meet new child protection standards including child-resistant packaging marketing restrictions and enhanced labeling rules In Tallahassee the state Senate approved a ban on hemp-derived THC products including beverages but that measure died in the state House A similar effort last year was vetoed by Republican Gov Ron DeSantis who announced it would harm small businesses Last month California Democratic Gov Gavin Newsom signed statute strengthening state enforcement of its ban on intoxicating hemp products Similarly Ohio Republican Gov Mike DeWine declared an exigency last month in an executive order banning intoxicating hemp products for days while lawmakers debate promising ordinance Tetrahydrocannabinol or THC is the primary psychoactive component of the cannabis plant The state attorneys general argue manufacturers are manipulating hemp to produce synthetic THC that can be more intoxicating than marijuana In this way legal nonintoxicating hemp is used to make Frankenstein THC products that get adults high and harm and even kill children the attorneys general wrote Hemp-derived gummies and beverages are sold without consistent age restrictions or labeling regulations and oftentimes resemble candy During his announcement DeWine showcased brightly packaged intoxicating hemp products that resembled name-brand candy products Certainly it s easy to see how a child will confuse this product with real candy and eat a insufficient gummy bears and ingest enough THC to require hospitalization he mentioned according to the Ohio Capital Journal Though it has faced mounting restrictions in the states the hemp industry says the federal change poses an existential threat On Monday the U S Hemp Roundtable disclosed the bill pending in Congress would wipe out of the nation s billion hemp industry The language will force patients seniors and veterans who rely on hemp products to break federal criminal law to acquire them the contract group posted online Jonathan Miller general counsel for the organization revealed the industry has been pushing for regulation rather than outright prohibition He acknowledged the trouble of bad actors but mentioned those can be addressed with strong regulations like those that exist in Kentucky and Minnesota These are good examples of states that have put together robust regulations But we need to see that at the federal level and we ve been supporting bill to do that for the last seven years he recounted Stateline Republican U S Sen Mitch McConnell Kentucky s senior senator noted he included the hemp measure in the bill to close an unintended legal loophole and that the measure would still allow farmers to grow hemp for fiber oil and drug trials But fellow Kentucky Republican U S Sen Rand Paul commented the move would eradicate the hemp industry and could override several state laws Paul offered an amendment to remove the hemp provision but failed The hemp loophole Hemp derives from the same cannabis species as marijuana but is legally defined by its lower levels of THC the psychoactive component of the plant While marijuana remains illegal under federal law Congress sanctioned hemp in the farm bill to allow an agricultural sector for hemp-based textiles animal feeds and human wellness products centered on cannabidiol or CBD products The farm bill allowed cultivation of hemp plants with a THC concentration of or lower by dry weight But that threshold has become essentially meaningless announced Katharine Neill Harris a fellow in drug strategy at Rice University s Baker Institute for Residents Procedures That s because manufacturers have ascertained techniques to convert legal hemp plants into potent forms of synthetic marijuana Aside from the feasible of creating very strong products she commented the process requires the addition of solvents and other ingredients that raise several safety questions With marijuana products you can get particular very potent products she revealed But the psychoactive components to THC are naturally occurring It naturally occurs in that natural amount You re not doing a whole bunch of manipulation to increase the potency of the product and adding ingredients Harris has tracked the growing number of states regulating the industry Six states and the District of Columbia now ban all consumable hemp products with any amount of THC In states intoxicating hemp products are permitted though of those states allow only low-potency products But even states with strict regulations still must contend with legal online markets There s a big part of that activity that you can t control as a state when something is federally legal and so that s one thing that they re asking for is federal leadership on this issue she reported I think there is a big demand for several sort of industry standards If approved by Congress and signed by the president as expected the new hemp measure will likely have uneven impacts across the states For example the change likely won t dramatically alter the legal landscape in Alaska where the regulators have banned all intoxicating hemp products Marijuana businesses complain those products are still being sold despite the ban But in a state like Nebraska where lawmakers have been unsuccessful in limiting intoxicating hemp the change could drastically alter both consumer access and business sales depending on enforcement On Monday Paul announced the federal decree would wipe away hemp regulations in countless states including Kentucky Louisiana Maine and Utah The bill before us nullifies all these state laws he revealed Running with knives The hemp industry has argued that a lot of the opposition to it stems from marijuana businesses looking to protect their own markets noting that campaigns for restrictions are often more organized in states that have legalized marijuana But producers of intoxicating hemp are looking for arena access without the associated safety regulations and tax structures states have created for marijuana argued Chris Lindsey the director of state advocacy and inhabitants guidelines at the American Deal Association for Cannabis and Hemp an organization representing the legal marijuana industry They want to have particular kind of regulatory framework that s somehow different than the one that states already have for marijuana he noted His organization cheered the Senate s efforts to address the dangerous proliferation of unregulated synthetic THC products Lindsey explained hemp-derived products can contain contaminants including pesticides Multiple hemp products can be sourced cheaply overseas he announced and with lax oversight there is no system to recall tainted products here To me that s like running with knives he narrated Stateline The Missouri Cannabis Deal Association of late purchased hemp products from gas stations and smoke shops from across the state to test them in an effort to show they need more regulation In its Missouri Hemp Hoax Assessment the organization revealed independent testing unveiled of the products purchased were veritably intoxicating marijuana well above the legal limit of THC Third-party lab results also displayed specific of the products contained pesticides and heavy metals Those results underscore that the products should face the same rules as legal marijuana does commented Andrew Mullins president and executive director of the cannabis arrangement association State law requires marijuana to be grown and manufactured in Missouri mandates lab testing and allows for sales only at licensed dispensaries In my mind if it s marijuana which majority of this is then it should be regulated like marijuana Mullins mentioned He revealed calling the unregulated products hemp is akin to someone selling whiskey and calling it corn Everybody is using hemp as a cover to basically sell intoxicating drugs Mullins acknowledged the confusion among policymakers and law enforcement But he explained there are already laws including those against trafficking marijuana without a license that could help address the issue Catherine Hanaway a Republican who was sworn in as Missouri s new attorney general in September has vowed action on unregulated hemp products particularly THC beverages that are booming in popularity Our focus is on the wellbeing and safety of Missourians James Lawson her deputy chief of staff explained the Missouri Independent last month This is an unregulated industry that makes untested unknown substances available to the general without any oversight including children where we think it s particularly detrimental Stateline reporter Kevin Hardy can be reached at khardy stateline org States Newsroom Visit at stateline org Distributed by Tribune Content Agency LLC