Not all hemp cannabinoids would be banned under a controversial amendment proposed for the next U.S. Farm Bill, according to analysis from a key legislative agency.
The Congressional Research Service (CRS), Congress’s primary think tank, said the amendment, which would shut down widespread distribution of unregulated intoxicating hemp products, would not affect CBD and other non-psychoactive, natural compounds derived from the hemp flower.
“This (amendment) would not prohibit all hemp cannabinoid products, such as CBD, but would require determinations by USDA based on available scientific research and quantification methods,” according to a paper released earlier this week by the CRS, which provides Congress with nonpartisan policy analysis.
The legislative update to the Farm Bill, known as the Miller Amendment after Illinois Rep. Mary Miller who introduced it, passed out of the House Committee on Agriculture last month. It redefines hemp to distinguish between plants grown for flowers from which the psychoactive hemp substances are derived, and the more traditional “industrial hemp,” which includes crops farmed for food in the form of grain, and those grown for the plant’s valuable fibers.
As passed by the House committee, the updated draft Farm Bill allows only naturally occurring or naturally derived nonintoxicating compounds and redefines the 0.3% THC limit for hemp to a combination of delta-9 THC and THCA.
Read more at Hemp Today