The hemp industry spent the last week gearing up for a proposed federal ban that would mark the end of the market as we know it, and while there’s still cause for caution, retailers and growers can take a breath for now. A group of senators, hailing from both ends of the political spectrum, agreed to push the measure’s implementation a year, should it pass.
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On Thursday, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed a bill that, among other things, would drastically change the federal definition of legal hemp. The hemp language was proposed by Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who modeled it after a companion bill proposed in the House by Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD). The legislation seeks to close the “loophole” exploited by hemp retailers by banning all consumables with quantifiable amounts of THC—including trace or insignificant amounts. This ban would have unintended consequences on the weed industry as a whole, as it’s virtually impossible to sell CBD products absolutely void of THC.
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) expressed his worry about the bill, saying it “addresses one very important issue, but causes another problem.”
Merkley sees the year-long postponement as an opportunity to introduce provisions that will protect CBD and other non-psychoactive marijuana products because of their medical importance and to protect farmers who grow hemp. McConnell, on the other hand, said he only agreed to the year to “give our hemp farmers ample time to prepare for their future,” implying that he plans for the bill to be passed next year using the same language.
The hemp space has grown drastically as of late, as THC-infused drinks and other consumables have taken off. If McConnell and Harris get their wish, a new flourishing market could effectively be eradicated, leaving its workers to scramble and readjust.
Senator Rand Paul (R-KY)–long-time hemp advocate—is worried that if passed, this bill will kill the important industry, instead proposing a bill that would change the definition of legal hemp to marijuana that contains at most one percent of THC (up from the current 0.3 percent limit).
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It seems that hemp retailers may have dodged a bullet for now, but that doesn’t mean the work is done. In a year’s time, McConnell and Harris’s words might have disastrous consequences on the legal cannabis market in America, and by then, it might be too late to fight.