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The senator who championed the federal legalization of hemp is now seeking to reverse much of the reform by pushing legislation at a committee hearing this week to ban on consumable products with quantifiable amounts of THC, industry stakeholders say.<\/p>\n
Several sources told Marijuana Moment on Tuesday that Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the former majority leader in the Senate who led the push for hemp legalization as part of the 2018 Farm Bill, is behind forthcoming language in agriculture spending legislation that would effectively wipe out the consumable hemp product market.<\/p>\n
The bill text has not been released at this point, however, and there are efforts within the cannabis space to get it amended before it goes to a vote in the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday. Marijuana Moment reached out to McConnell\u2019s office for comment, but representatives did not respond by the time of publication.<\/p>\n
Two of the sources said that the hemp provisions will be identical to what the House Appropriations Committee passed late last month, with noted cannabis prohibitionist Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) leading the charge to correct what he\u2019s described as a \u201cloophole\u201d in the Farm Bill that led to the proliferation of consumable\u2014and in certain cases intoxicating\u2014cannabinoid products such as delta-8 THC that have gone largely unregulated.<\/p>\n
Another source said McConnell is aware that hemp legalization is part of his legacy in the Senate and wants closing the so-called \u201cloophole\u201d that has allowed the proliferation of intoxicating products to be part of that history.<\/p>\n
Industry experts say the language wouldn\u2019t just ban controversial hemp products found at gas stations and headshops across the country, however. Based on the House text, it would prohibit all products containing any amount of THC, and the concern is that it would mean even CBD items would likely be banned because it\u2019s extremely rare that the extraction of that non-intoxicating cannabinoid would have no THC.<\/p>\n
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) told Marijuana Moment recently that he\u2019s opposed to cannabis language included in the House agriculture appropriations bill that\u2019s now heading to the floor. He said \u201cI think would completely destroy the American hemp industry<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know how you\u2019d be able to sell CBD oil with that,\u201d he the senator said.<\/p>\n While Harris amended report language attached to the bill that clarifies it\u2019s not the intent of the committee to stop people from accessing \u201cindustrial or nonintoxicating\u00a0hemp-derived cannabinoid products with trace or insignificant amounts of THC<\/a>,\u201d the House bill itself still says that products containing any \u201cquantifiable\u201d amounts of THC couldn\u2019t be marketed. And it\u2019s rare to find CBD items without any natural traces of THC.<\/p>\n Again, while industry sources familiar with the discussions say the Senate version will contain identical language in its current form, the text isn\u2019t publicly available and it\u2019s possible it could be revised ahead of Thursday\u2019s committee markup. But if the language is the same, that would raise serious concerns in the hemp sector, significantly increasing the likelihood that it could be enacted into law.<\/p>\n Paul, for his part, recently filed a bill that would go in the opposite direction of Harris\u2019s ban, proposing to triple the concentration of THC that the crop could legally contain<\/a>, while addressing multiple other concerns the industry has expressed about federal regulations.<\/p>\n The senator introduced the legislation, titled the Hemp Economic Mobilization Plan (HEMP) Act, last month. It mirrors versions he\u2019s sponsored over the last several sessions<\/a>.<\/p>\n Hemp and its derivatives were legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill, but the industry has experienced multiple setbacks in the years since\u2014and 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.<\/p>\n Harris, for his part, told Marijuana Moment recently that he\u2019s not concerned about any potential opposition in the Senate<\/a>\u2014and he also disputed reports about the scope of what his legislation would do to the industry.<\/p>\n Harris\u2014who serves as chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies\u2014also noted in the interview with Marijuana Moment that there \u201cwas no opposition [to the hemp provisions] that came up in committee, that\u2019s for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n He also briefly weighed in on the\u00a0Texas governor\u2019s recent veto of a bill to recriminalize hemp products with any THC<\/a>\u2014simply stating that he\u2019s \u201cnot paying attention to what a single state is doing\u201d while he focuses on enacting the proposed federal ban.<\/p>\n The language in the congressional bill, meanwhile,\u00a0would still effectively eliminate the most commonly marketed hemp products within the industry, as even non-intoxicating CBD items that are sold across the country typically contain trace amounts of THC. Under current law, those products are allowed if they contain no more than 0.3 percent THC by dry weight.<\/p>\n The proposed policy championed by Harris would drastically change that. It would instead maintain the legal status of \u201cindustrial hemp\u201d under a revised definition that allows for the cultivation and sale of hemp grown for fiber, whole grain, oil, cake, nut, hull, microgreens or \u201cother edible hemp leaf products intended for human consumption.\u201d<\/p>\n The Congressional Research Service (CRS) released a report last month stating that the legislation would \u201ceffectively\u201d prohibit hemp-derived cannabinoid products<\/a>. Initially it said that such a ban would prevent the sale of CBD as well, but the CRS report was updated to exclude that language for reasons that are unclear.<\/p>\n The hemp\u00a0language\u00a0is largely consistent with appropriations and agriculture legislation that was introduced, but not ultimately enacted, under the last Congress.<\/p>\n Hemp industry stakeholders rallied against that proposal, an earlier version of which was also included in the base bill from the subcommittee last year. It\u2019s\u00a0virtually identical to a provision of the 2024 Farm Bill that was attached by a separate committee<\/a>\u00a0last May via an amendment from Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL), which was also not enacted into law.<\/p>\n There are some differences between the prior spending bill and this latest version for 2026, including a redefining of what constitutes a \u201cquantifiable\u201d amount of THC that\u2019d be prohibited for hemp products.<\/p>\n It now says that a quantifiable amount is \u201cbased on substance, form, manufacture, or article (as determined by the Secretary of Health and Human Services in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture),\u201d whereas it was previously defined as an amount simply \u201cdetermined by the Secretary in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services.\u201d<\/p>\n The proposed legislation also now specifies that the term hemp does not include \u201ca drug that is the subject of an application approved under subsection (c) or (j) of section 505 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 355),\u201d which seems to carve out an exception for Food and Drug Administration- (FDA) approved drugs such Epidiolex, which is synthesized from CBD.<\/p>\n 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\u00a0proposing to maintain the legalization of naturally derived cannabinoids<\/a>\u00a0from the crop and only prohibit synthetic items.<\/p>\n Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) President and CEO Francis Creighton said in a press release that\u00a0 \u201cproponents and opponents alike have agreed that this language amounts to a ban.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBy pushing a rapidly evolving industry back into the shadows, Congress is creating even more chaos in the marketplace, undermining state initiatives and punishing responsible actors,\u201d he said. \u201cWe urge the full House to reconsider this approach. States can regulate intoxicating products safely and effectively through systems that preserve consumer trust and public safety. It\u2019s time for Congress to follow their lead, not override their authority.\u201d<\/p>\n Members of WSWA also\u00a0met with lawmakers and staffers in April to advocate for three key policy priorities<\/a>\u00a0that the group says is based on \u201csound principles of alcohol distribution.\u201d They include banning synthetic THC, setting up a federal system for testing and labeling products and establishing state-level power to regulate retail sales.<\/p>\n Separately, key GOP congressional lawmakers\u2014including one member who supports marijuana legalization\u2014don\u2019t seem especially concerned about provisions in the bill<\/a>\u00a0despite concern from stakeholders that it would\u00a0put much of the hemp industry in jeopardy by banning most consumable products<\/a>\u00a0derived from the plant.<\/p>\n \u2014 Jonathan Miller, general counsel of the U.S. Hemp Roundtable,\u00a0told congressional lawmakers in April that the market is \u201cbegging\u201d for federal regulations<\/a>\u00a0around cannabis products.<\/p>\n At the hearing, Rep. James Comer (R-KY) also inquired about FDA inaction around regulations, sarcastically asking if it\u2019d require \u201ca gazillion bureaucrats that work from home\u201d to regulate cannabinoids such as CBD.<\/p>\n A report from Bloomberg Intelligence (BI) last year\u00a0called cannabis a \u201csignificant threat\u201d to the alcohol industry<\/a>, citing survey data that suggests more people are using cannabis as a substitute for alcoholic beverages such a beer and wine.<\/p>\n Last November, meanwhile, a beer industry trade group\u00a0put out a statement of guiding principles to address what it called \u201cthe proliferation of largely unregulated intoxicating hemp and cannabis products,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0warning of risks to consumers and communities resulting from THC consumption.<\/p>\n Photo courtesy of Brendan Cleak.<\/em><\/p>\n The post GOP Senator Who Helped Federally Legalize Hemp Is Seeking To Close \u2018Loophole\u2019 By Banning Products With Committee Vote This Week, Sources Say<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The senator who championed the federal legalization of hemp is now seeking to reverse much of the reform by pushing legislation at a committee hearing this week to ban on consumable products with quantifiable amounts of THC, industry stakeholders say. Several sources told Marijuana Moment on Tuesday that Sen. MitchContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":82164,"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\/82163"}],"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=82163"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82163\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82165,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82163\/revisions\/82165"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: GOP Senator Who Helped Federally Legalize Hemp Is Seeking To Close \u2018Loophole\u2019 By Banning Products With Committee Vote This Week, Sources Say<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"