The White House is pressing Congress to take action to prevent the broad federal recriminalization of hemp products that\u2019s set to take effect later this year.<\/p>\n
The push comes as part of a request to lawmakers for supplemental funding to address costs associated with the administration\u2019s attacks on Iran and \u201cother critical needs\u201d such as responding to an Ebola outbreak in Africa.<\/p>\n
\u201cFurthermore, the Administration requests additional authorities that it strongly supports,\u201d White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought wrote to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on Wednesday.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThese authorities include revising the Federal regulation of hemp to ensure the fair treatment of hemp products in a manner consistent with Amendment #54 offered to H.R. 8646 in the House Rules Committee, or, at minimum, an extension of implementation of the regulatory framework put in place by Section 781 of Public Law 119-37,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n The amendment Vought referenced was filed by Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) that would have kept many hemp products legal that are currently set to be recriminalized this year<\/a>, add labeling requirements and institute new taxes on sales, among other regulatory reforms. It was blocked from receiving a House floor vote by the Rules Committee, however.<\/p>\n Barr is also preparing to file standalone legislation on the issue and has said it faces opposition from a coalition of strange bedfellows including sectors of the alcohol industry, marijuana businesses and cannabis legalization opponents<\/a>.<\/p>\n An attachment to the letter that the White House letter sent to Congress this week notes that the hemp-related request \u201cwould update the statutory definition of final hemp-derived cannabinoid products to allow Americans to benefit from access to appropriate full-spectrum CBD products while preserving the Congress\u2019s intent to restrict the sale of products that pose serious health risks.\u201d<\/p>\n The administration used similar hemp language<\/a> earlier this month in a statement of administration policy on the agriculture funding bill that Barr\u2019s earlier amendment was blocked from being attached to.<\/p>\n Jonathan Miller, general counsel of the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, told Marijuana Moment that the group is \u201cexcited to see the president take such a strong public stance in favor of replacing the hemp ban with a strong regulatory framework, or at a minimum, securing an extension of the hemp ban moratorium to give Congress more time to develop regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is an important step to honoring Congress\u2019s promise to help farmers and consumers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Hemp derivatives with less than 0.3 percent delta-9 THC on a dry-weight basis were federally legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill that Trump signed during his first term in office. But late last year, he signed new legislation containing provisions that will redefine hemp to make it so only products with 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container will remain legal after November 12.<\/p>\n In April, the president himself urged congressional lawmakers to again redefine hemp<\/a> to avoid recriminalization of full-spectrum CBD products.<\/p>\n \u201cI am calling on Congress to update the Law to ensure that Americans can continue to access the full-spectrum CBD products they have come to rely on, and that help them, while preserving Congress\u2019s intent to restrict the sale of products that pose Health risks,\u201d Trump said in a Truth Social post on the same day his administration announced it is moving forward with rescheduling marijuana.<\/p>\n \u201cWe must get this done RIGHT and FAST, especially for those who saw that CBD helps them,\u201d he said. \u201cPlus, I am told it will also help our GREAT FARMERS, who we love, and will always be there for.\u201d<\/p>\n Industry advocates say that the law as enacted last year not only threatens to prohibit intoxicating and synthetic cannabinoid products but also stands to remove popular full-spectrum CBD products that many Americans use therapeutically from the market.<\/p>\n \u201cONE in FIVE adults used it in the past year, and many say it improved their chronic pain enormously,\u201d the president said in his social media post, adding that hemp-derived CBD \u201chas made a HUGE difference for so many people.\u201d<\/p>\n He also referenced a new initiative the administration launched in April to cover up to $500 worth of hemp-derived products each year for eligible Medicare patients<\/a>. The program being implemented by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) focuses largely on CBD but also allows products to have up to 3 milligrams of total THC per serving.<\/p>\n \u201cIn December, I signed a very important Executive Order calling for Research and Innovation for Hemp-derived CBD,\u201d Trump said. \u201cOur wonderful Dr. Mehmet Oz moved fast to follow the directive in the Executive Order, and launched a model for some Seniors earlier this month. But more must be done!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPlease get it done, and SOON,\u201d the president said in reference to a congressional fix for the broad recriminalization set to take effect in November. \u201cThank you for your attention to this matter!\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s not clear how far Trump wants to scale back the scope of the scheduled federal restrictions on hemp products and what kinds of revised THC rules and limitations he would prefer to sign into law.<\/p>\n Separately,\u00a0White House officials recently provided a congressman\u2019s office with feedback on hemp regulatory legislation<\/a>.<\/p>\n In April, Vince Haley, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council and James Braid, assistant to the president for legislative affairs, sent hemp policy suggestions to Barr.<\/p>\n \u201cWe appreciate your work to advance the policy of\u201d an executive order Trump signed in December that included provisions seeking to protect Americans\u2019 access to CBD products, the staffers wrote in a letter to the congressman.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are transmitting for your consideration draft legislative text and comments to address the statutory definition of final hemp-derived cannabinoid products in order to allow Americans to benefit from access to appropriate full-spectrum CBD products while preserving the Congress\u2019s intent to restrict the sale of products that pose serious health risks,\u201d the White House officials said, according to a social media post containing a screenshot of the letter. \u201cWe are available for discussion and further technical assistance.\u201d<\/p>\n Separately, anti-marijuana organizations filed a lawsuit suit against the Medicare hemp CBD coverage policy<\/a>\u2014but a judge dismissed the case last month, ruling that they don\u2019t have standing<\/a>. Lawyers for Health and Human Services Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and CMS Director Mehmet Oz had filed a brief asking that the case be dismissed<\/a>.<\/p>\n The White House Office of Management and Budget has also held a series of meetings about a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) CBD products enforcement policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n FDA issued guidance making clear that it does not intend to interfere with implementation of the Medicare hemp-derived products coverage plan<\/a>.<\/p>\n CMS separately\u00a0finalized a rule that will allow\u00a0coverage of some hemp products as specialized, non-primarily health-related benefits through Medicare Advantage<\/a>\u00a0plans.<\/p>\n As hemp products have become more popular with consumers, some large brands are attempting to get in on action.<\/p>\n Major retailer\u00a0Target, for example, is expanding its participation in the hemp-derived THC beverage market<\/a>. Last year, the company began a pilot program involving sales of cannabis drinks at 10 select stores in Minnesota. That apparently went well, and now the company has obtained licenses from Minnesota regulators to sell lower-potency hemp edible products\u2014including THC drinks\u2014at all 72 of its stores in the state.<\/p>\n The National Restaurant Association, which represents the industry, recently sent a letter urging congressional leaders to\u00a0delay the federal recriminalization of hemp THC beverages<\/a>\u00a0that is scheduled to take effect later this year and replace it with a regulatory framework that \u201censures consumer safety while meeting growing market demand\u201d for the products as an alternative to alcohol.<\/p>\n A U.S. Department of Agriculture report published in April shows that farmers in the U.S. grew three-quarters of a billion dollars worth of hemp crops in 2025<\/a>\u2014a 64 percent increase from the prior year.<\/p>\n Read the White House letter<\/a> to Congress below:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n The post White House Pushes Congress To Ensure \u2018Fair Treatment Of Hemp Products\u2019 By Calling Off Broad Recriminalization Law Set For November<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The White House is pressing Congress to take action to prevent the broad federal recriminalization of hemp products that\u2019s set to take effect later this year. The push comes as part of a request to lawmakers for supplemental funding to address costs associated with the administration\u2019s attacks on Iran andContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":459,"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\/86181"}],"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\/459"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86181"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86181\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86182,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86181\/revisions\/86182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: White House Pushes Congress To Ensure \u2018Fair Treatment Of Hemp Products\u2019 By Calling Off Broad Recriminalization Law Set For November<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"