The head of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) again indicated that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) had an outsized influence on its proposed rules for hemp, stating that the agency “really didn’t like the whole program to begin with.”
During a hearing on the USDA’s budget before the Senate Appropriations Committee last week, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue was pressed on restrictive provisions of USDA’s interim final rule for hemp, specifically as it concerns the limited THC threshold allowed in the crop.
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) said the 0.3 percent THC limit is arbitrary, and it’s not necessary to distinguish hemp from marijuana.
Perdue said that was “certainly true” and he added that the USDA “fought for a little more flexibility of widening those standards,” but it was constrained by congressionally approved statutes and faced pushback from other federal agencies as it attempted to loosen restrictions.
Read more at marijuanamoment.net
