Hemp businesses, cannabis companies, state regulators, prohibitionists and congressional lawmakers are all vying to have their cannabis priorities represented in the forthcoming Farm Bill. But while there are shared interests among certain stakeholders, some competing proposals have created tension in unexpected ways.
The hemp industry, for example, is at odds with select cannabis companies that are aligned with prohibitionists—with the strange bedfellows in agreement on proposed restrictions on intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoids such as delta-8 THC.
"Policy challenges related to hemp are complex, and several steps are required to fully address them," U.S. Cannabis Council (USCC) Executive Director Edward Conklin said in a letter to congressional leaders last month. "However, the most important and time-sensitive of those steps is within your control and well within the authority of the Farm Bill: Close the loophole created by the current definition of hemp established by the 2018 Farm Bill and create a regulatory pathway for non-intoxicating products."
The language recommended by USCC, which represents major cannabis companies, would remove intoxicating cannabinoid products intended for consumption from the definition of federally legal hemp and reclassify them as federally illegal cannabis products.
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