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One of the behind-the-scenes architects of the federal law legalizing hemp during President Donald Trump\u2019s first term says it\u2019s a misconception that Congress accidentally created a \u201cloophole\u201d allowing intoxicating cannabinoid products to be sold.<\/p>\n
Rather, the controversy over the hemp THC marketplace that\u2019s emerged is a direct consequence of inaction by lawmakers and regulators that could be resolved without outright banning such products, as certain GOP members have proposed, Steve Bevan said in a letter to key Republican committee leaders on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Bevan\u2014who worked with then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to help draft the hemp language contained in the 2018 Farm Bill\u2014said proponents of re-criminalizing intoxicating cannabinoid products \u201cclaim it\u2019s about protecting children from dangerous products,\u201d yet \u201csimple age gating and responsible consumption resolve this.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead of focusing on citizens\u2019 access to wellness and the positive economic benefits being realized from the national hemp experiment\u2013it worked!\u2013they bizarrely suggest a return to prohibition,\u201d he said in the letter, which was shared exclusively with Marijuana Moment.<\/p>\n
The message to congressional leaders is responsive to a separate letter sent by 39 state and territory attorneys general who urged legislators to enact restrictions on the consumable hemp market by banning intoxicating items<\/a>.<\/p>\n This stepped-up push to get such products prohibited again is being led in part by McConnell, who has insisted he and colleagues only intended to allow for industrial uses of hemp, with exceptions for non-intoxicating CBD. That isn\u2019t exactly the case, Bevan said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe specifically added language about \u2018extracts, derivatives, and cannabinoids\u2019 to the definition of hemp to help American farmers and rural communities build businesses around hemp-derived products,\u201d he said. \u201cSenator McConnell understood this and changed the definition. This wasn\u2019t an accident or a loophole\u2014it was intentional to ensure that the farmers of Kentucky newly producing hemp\u2014could reach markets with their new crop.\u201d<\/p>\n Bevan, who served as a co-founder and chair of the U.S. Hemp Roundtable and is now a partner at OCan Group, said that during the drafting of the hemp provisions of the Farm Bill, \u201cwe asked federal regulators to create quality and safety standards for these products.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s common sense\u2014you test food before people eat it, right? But the FDA, even when Congress instructed them to act, has repeatedly refused to regulate these products,\u201d he said, echoing complaints from bipartisan lawmakers and industry stakeholders over the years since hemp was legalized.<\/p>\n \u201cWe told [FDA] exactly what would happen without proper regulations: products would become popular, quality would vary, there\u2019d be no age restrictions, and consumers wouldn\u2019t know what they\u2019re buying,\u201d he said. \u201cThe FDA responded with silence for over two years, then sent out a few warning letters in late 2024. Too little, too late.\u201d<\/p>\n Bevan, who also founded the cannabis company GenCanna before it declared bankruptcy in 2020, said that what Congress isn\u2019t addressing with the proposed ban is the fact that intoxicating hemp products are already popular with a significant portion of the adult population, prohibition would only bolster the illicit market, the industry has thrived despite lack of federal support and re-criminalizing would lead to the same drug war consequences the country has historically witnessed.<\/p>\n The letter posits that a key reason for the attorneys general message supporting a ban could be that the vast majority of signatories serve states and territories where marijuana is legal in some form, and those businesses \u201ccompete directly with hemp products.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cInstead of competing on price and quality, these AGs want Congress to eliminate their competition,\u201d he said. \u201cThink about that. Your state\u2019s top law enforcement official wants to criminalize products that millions of adults use\u2014not because they\u2019re dangerous, but because they\u2019re cutting into state tax revenue.\u201d<\/p>\n It concludes by describing \u201ctwo options\u201d for Congress: Lawmakers can move to prohibit the intoxicating cannabinoid products and launch \u201canother drug war\u201d that ignores consumer demand, or they can create a regulatory framework for the hemp market that establishes \u201crules around quality and standards for the benefit of the principal stakeholders that should have existed from day one.\u201d<\/p>\n If they opt for the latter option, Bevan said that should start with age requirements for hemp purchases and allowing a transition period for businesses to get into compliance with any new regulations, Bevan said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe question isn\u2019t whether to regulate hemp products\u2014clearly we should. The question is whether we\u2019ll do it intelligently, or whether we\u2019ll repeat the failures of prohibition one more time and miss another opportunity for American leadership and innovation,\u201d he said. \u201cMillions of Americans have made their choice. They want these products. They deserve safe, regulated acces\u2014not criminalization. It\u2019s time for Congress to listen to the people, not just the tax collectors.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a coalition of major alcohol industry associations is throwing its weight behind the push to get Congress to ban intoxicating hemp products<\/a>\u2014at least on a temporary basis before the federal government creates a \u201crobust regulatory framework\u201d for the marketplace.<\/p>\n As lawmakers work to finalize appropriations legislation, they\u2019ve felt pressure on both sides of the hemp debate, with some interests endorsing controversial proposals to outright prohibit intoxicating cannabinoids and others that have called for a comprehensive regulatory approach that could prevent significant economic fallout for the hemp industry.<\/p>\n There\u2019s been a\u00a0surge in congressional lobbying from major alcohol companies and associations<\/a>\u00a0in recent months, with stakeholders aiming to influence federal hemp laws that focus on\u00a0THC beverages that many consumers are turning to as beer and liquor alternatives<\/a>.<\/p>\n As Congress continues to navigate a path forward on funding legislation to end an ongoing government shutdown, lawmakers are\u00a0still at work attempting to reach a deal on federal hemp laws<\/a>\u2014with one GOP senator telling Marijuana Moment that multiple options are on the table, though it will ultimately come down to what leadership wants.<\/p>\n Two GOP lawmakers\u2014McConnell and Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD)\u2014have pushed aggressively for an outright ban on hemp products containing THC. But others such as Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) have insisted that such a policy change would devastate the industry. And Paul said recently he\u2019d go so far as to hold up large-scale spending legislation if a full ban was kept intact<\/a>.<\/p>\n The senator also pushed back against the recent letter from the state and territory attorneys general who implored Republican leaders to fully prevent the marketing of intoxicating hemp products.<\/p>\n \u201cSome of them came back from states that have completely legalized marijuana, and they\u2019re going to ban hemp? I mean, it\u2019s just ridiculous,\u201d he said. \u201cSo they prefer people to use a much higher dose of THC from cannabis than lower-dose hemp products. It doesn\u2019t make any sense.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 As far as legislative options go, Paul did put forward legislative language recently to\u00a0require a study and report on state regulatory models for hemp that<\/a>\u00a0could inform future revisions to the federal law\u2014rather than prohibit sales altogether, as McConnell would have it.<\/p>\n In August, McConnell\u2013who ushered in the federal legalization of hemp under the 2018 Farm Bill\u2013took to the Senate floor to\u00a0criticize those who opposed the ban, including Paul<\/a>.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, 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 Read the letter<\/a> from Bevan to congressional leaders on the hemp ban proposal below:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n The post Legalizing Intoxicating Hemp Products Wasn\u2019t A \u2018Loophole\u2019 But Was Intentional, Expert Who Helped Draft Farm Bill Says<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
One of the behind-the-scenes architects of the federal law legalizing hemp during President Donald Trump\u2019s first term says it\u2019s a misconception that Congress accidentally created a \u201cloophole\u201d allowing intoxicating cannabinoid products to be sold. Rather, the controversy over the hemp THC marketplace that\u2019s emerged is a direct consequence of inactionContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":84157,"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\/84156"}],"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=84156"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84156\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84158,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84156\/revisions\/84158"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Legalizing Intoxicating Hemp Products Wasn\u2019t A \u2018Loophole\u2019 But Was Intentional, Expert Who Helped Draft Farm Bill Says<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"