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Amid a contentious debate over federal laws on intoxicating hemp products, congressional researchers have published a report outlining current policies and options for lawmakers to resolve outstanding issues related to a proposed THC ban.<\/p>\n
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) report explains how, following the enactment of the 2018 Farm Bill during President Donald Trump\u2019s first term, hemp containing up to 0.3 percent THC by dry weight was federally legalized. But now that policy is under scrutiny on Capitol Hill.<\/p>\n
\u201cFollowing the enactment of the 2018 farm bill, the cannabis industry began producing certain cannabis products that contain less than 0.3% delta-9 THC but a total THC concentration that exceeds 0.3%,\u201d the report says. \u201cSome of these products may be intoxicating to the user. Given that THC is separately listed as a Schedule I controlled substance, there is some uncertainty regarding which of these products are legally considered hemp.\u201d<\/p>\n
CRS also described the sometimes conflicting administrative and legal perspectives on the issue, with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and certain federal courts reaching \u201cdivergent conclusions regarding whether certain cannabis products are hemp.\u201d<\/p>\n
It also noted that several states have passed or discussed laws to restrict or prohibit hemp products<\/a> containing certain levels of THC, and how stakeholders have challenged those bans in court.<\/p>\n \u201cVarious participants in the hemp industry have challenged several of these state efforts to prohibit certain cannabis products by filing lawsuits, primarily arguing that (1) the state laws violate the Dormant Commerce Clause and (2) the 2018 farm bill preempts the state laws,\u201d the CRS report says.<\/p>\n \u201cIn light of the uncertainty and disagreement over the 2018 farm bill\u2019s hemp definition and the rise of certain THC products, Congress may consider whether to revise its definition as to which cannabinoid products are excluded from the definition of marijuana under the CSA,\u201d it said. \u201cCongress has previously considered amending this definition.\u201d<\/p>\n It noted that a House agriculture appropriations bill this session \u201cincludes a provision that would redefine hemp to include the cannabis plant and all derivatives with a total THC concentration of not more than 0.3 percent.\u201d And a \u201csimilar\u201d policy change \u201cwas previously proposed in a version of the farm bill introduced in the Senate during the 118th Congress.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAn amendment to a House version of the farm bill also suggested this change. Such an amendment would consider all THC for the purposes of legally determining what is hemp and what is marijuana,\u201d the report says, referring to broad agriculture legislation that advanced, but did not pass, last Congress. \u201cThis change would bring certain THC products back under the CSA and DEA regulation that are currently considered to be hemp or are in an uncertain area of regulation.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCongress could also consider other amendments to the hemp definition. For example, it could adopt DEA\u2019s interpretation that \u2018synthetically derived\u2019 THC remains a Schedule I controlled substance,\u201d it continues. \u201cUsing the term \u2018synthetically derived\u2019 may raise new questions as to what Congress means by synthetic, unless it were clearly defined.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow it would be defined would affect which products would be regulated by the CSA,\u201d CRS said. \u201cCongress could also allow agency and judicial interpretations to play out without congressional intervention.\u201d<\/p>\n The report<\/a> also mentions that congressional lawmakers could look at more broadly revising the status of marijuana under the CSA, \u00a0\u201cwhich would affect how cannabinoid products that are not deemed to be hemp would be regulated.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEither Congress or the executive branch has the authority to change the status of marijuana. Congress can change the status of a controlled substance through legislation, while the CSA empowers DEA to make scheduling decisions through the notice-and-comment rulemaking process.\u201d<\/p>\n To that point, CRS noted, DEA is actively reviewing a proposal to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the CSA. And at the same time, there\u2019s been legislation introduced in the prior Congress that would deschedule cannabis altogether.<\/p>\n CRS separately released a report in June 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.<\/p>\n \u2014 Meanwhile, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) recently said he has plans to meet with House lawmakers to \u201creach a compromise\u201d on an approach to regulate hemp<\/a> in light of his opposition to a proposal in Congress to ban products with any \u201cquantifiable\u201d amount of THC.<\/p>\n While Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has contested the idea that the legislation he sponsored would \u201ccompletely destroy\u201d the market, as Paul and industry stakeholders have insisted<\/a>, he ultimately agreed to pull the language from the agriculture bill following Paul\u2019s procedural protest. The\u00a0Senate passed the underlying legislation earlier this month<\/a>.<\/p>\n Separately, Paul recently filed a standalone bill that would go in the opposite direction of the hemp ban,\u00a0proposing 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, in June. It\u00a0mirrors versions he\u2019s sponsored over the last several sessions<\/a>.<\/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 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 \u201cproponents and opponents alike have agreed that this language amounts to a ban.\u201d<\/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 Jonathan Miller, general counsel at 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 The post Congressional Researchers Detail \u2018Divergent\u2019 Opinions On Hemp As Lawmakers Debate THC Ban<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Amid a contentious debate over federal laws on intoxicating hemp products, congressional researchers have published a report outlining current policies and options for lawmakers to resolve outstanding issues related to a proposed THC ban. The Congressional Research Service (CRS) report explains how, following the enactment of the 2018 Farm BillContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":82968,"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\/82967"}],"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=82967"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82967\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82969,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82967\/revisions\/82969"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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