A person would need to \u201csmoke a joint the size of a telephone pole\u201d to get high from hemp, even if it marginally exceeds the 0.3 percent THC threshold that separates the federally legal crop from prohibited marijuana, a Justice Department researcher says.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s part of what makes the federal definition of hemp, as set out in the 2018 Farm Bill, a bit perplexing. While the intent of the low THC standard is to prevent people from accessing an intoxicating product, the origin of the specific 0.3 percent rule doesn\u2019t appear to be especially grounded in science.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just a really hard line, and it\u2019s a really low line,\u201d Frances Scott, a physical scientist at the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) Office of Investigative and Forensic Sciences under DOJ, said in an episode of the Justice Today podcast that was posted this month.<\/p>\n
In 2022, Scott helped lead a study<\/a> that involved testing dozens of products that are marketed as legal hemp. The findings, published in Police Chiefs Magazine, revealed that the \u201cvast majority\u201d crossed the 0.3 percent THC threshold, making them \u201clegally marijuana.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSome of these were like 0.35 percent, 0.4 percent, okay? So they\u2019re really tiny amounts,\u201d she said. \u201cThe implication is, this is legitimate farmers legitimately trying to grow hemp. They\u2019re not trying to grow illicit marijuana and get you high because, quite frankly, you\u2019d have to smoke a joint the size of a telephone pole to get much off of that 0.35 percent, right?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s sort of fascinating where that 0.3 percent came from, too. It seems to have come from, like, one mention hypothetically in an article from the 1950s, and kind of got picked up and run with,\u201d Scott said.<\/p>\n The specificity of the 0.3 percent delta-9 THC by dry weight definition also creates complications when it comes to non-flower products like \u201clotion or an oil,\u201d the researcher explained.<\/p>\n The NIJ podcast conversation<\/a> hits on a topic that\u2019s likely to be reared again in Congress this year, as lawmakers get back to work on the next iteration of the Farm Bill after the prior version was extended.<\/p>\n The Congressional Research Service (CRS) recently outlined how differing policy priorities among industry stakeholders could complicate the task<\/a>, but there are several areas of agreement<\/a> within the top industry groups.<\/p>\n One of those shared interests is amending the law to raise the THC limit to one percent for compliant hemp\u2014a proposal that was also addressed in a standalone bill from Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME)<\/a> in 2022.<\/p>\n There have been a number of other hemp bills that were filed this session that lawmakers may also consider folding in to the broader agricultural legislation.<\/p>\n One bipartisan bill filed last March seeks to end what critics say is a \u201cdiscriminatory\u201d federal policy<\/a>\u00a0that bars people with prior felony drug convictions from owning or leading legal hemp businesses.<\/p>\n Another measure introduced with bipartisan sponsors last year would reduce regulations on farmers that grow industrial hemp<\/a>\u00a0for non-extraction purposes.<\/p>\n Top of mind for other hemp stakeholders and legislators is their interest in finding a regulatory pathway to allow for the lawful marketing of hemp products like CBD oil as dietary supplements and in the food supply. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has regulatory jurisdiction over that issue, but at the beginning of the year, the agency said it didn\u2019t have a pathway to make it happen and instead offered to work with Congress on a solution.<\/p>\n In response, Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR), Rand Paul (R-KY) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR), along with Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), filed legislation last July that would remove regulatory barriers that FDA claims prevents it from allowing CBD marketing<\/a>.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, recent reporting could prompt additional reform proposals, as it\u2019s come to light that\u00a0USDA has been revoking certain hemp licenses for businesses<\/a>\u00a0that dually retain state licenses for marijuana.<\/p>\n For the time being, the hemp industry continues to face unique regulatory hurdles that stakeholders blame for the crop\u2019s value plummeting in the short years since its legalization. Despite the economic conditions, however, a recent report found that\u00a0the hemp market in 2022 was larger than all state marijuana markets<\/a>, and it roughly equaled sales for craft beer nationally.<\/p>\n Congressional Researchers Detail Limitations Of Marijuana Rescheduling For State Markets And Criminal Justice Reform<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Brendan Cleak.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Justice Department Researcher Questions 0.3% THC Limit For Hemp, Saying Federal Law Based On 1950s Anecdote<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A person would need to \u201csmoke a joint the size of a telephone pole\u201d to get high from hemp, even if it marginally exceeds the 0.3 percent THC threshold that separates the federally legal crop from prohibited marijuana, a Justice Department researcher says. It\u2019s part of what makes the federalContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71752"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71752"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71752\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71753,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71752\/revisions\/71753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Justice Department Researcher Questions 0.3% THC Limit For Hemp, Saying Federal Law Based On 1950s Anecdote<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"