Congress at long last seems set to take decisive action on legislation affecting the U.S. cannabis industry.
But instead of legalizing interstate commerce, offering banking protections or 280E tax relief, federal lawmakers on both sides of the partisan divide want to eliminate the protections for hemp-derived THC that were accidentally created by the 2018 Farm Bill.
That’s the conclusion hemp lobbyists and industry observers are drawing from the Republican budget proposal – introduced in the House last week and quickly passed by an initial subcommittee – that would ban hemp-derived THC products under federal law.
Whether or not that draconian ban passes, the proposal alone is the latest confirmation that there’s a growing sense among operators in the space that the “good old days” of freewheeling online transactions and sales at loosely regulated stores could be ending – eventually, if not soon.
“The question is not if Congress will act, but more a matter of when and to what extent,” Michael Bronstein, the president of the American Trade Association for Cannabis & Hemp (ATACH), which lobbies Congress and state lawmakers, told MJBizDaily via email.
How far can bill go without Democrats’ support?
Hackles were raised when U.S. Rep. Andy Harris, a Maryland Republican, introduced in his budget proposal a redefinition of “hemp” under federal law that would close what he and many others described as a “loophole” in the Farm Bill.
Harris echoed many critics, including some state-regulated marijuana operators, when he said that bill’s unintended consequence is the “proliferation of unregulated intoxicating hemp products, including (d)elta-8 and hemp flower, being sold online and in gas stations across the country.”
His proposal, which passed a House Appropriations subcommittee by a 9-7 partisan vote, would:
- Account for tetrahydrocannabinolic acid, or THCA, to ban so-called THCA flower.
- Remove novel cannabinoids “synthesized or manufactured outside the plant” such as THCP and delta-10 THC from the definition of hemp.
That would mean a major reckoning for many hemp manufacturers and retailers around the country, though the question of who would enforce such a ban – and whether such action would be effective – is an open one.
Read more at MJBizDaily