A powerful GOP-led congressional committee amended a report for a spending bill containing provisions that hemp stakeholders say would upend the industry, clarifying that the panel does not intend to prohibit non-intoxicating cannabinoid products with "trace or insignificant amounts of THC" that were federally legalized during the first Trump administration.
About a week after clearing a subcommittee, the legislation was taken up in the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, where members adopted a manager's amendment that provides the clarifying language—albeit in the report attached to the bill, rather than in the legislative text itself.
The 138-page measure covers a wide range of issues, but for the hemp industry, there's a section of particular concern that would redefine hemp under federal statute in a way that would prohibit cannabis products containing any "quantifiable" amount of THC or "any other cannabinoids that have similar effects (or are marketed to have similar effects) on humans or animals" as THC.
Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD)—chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies—said in opening remarks at the hearing that the legislation "closes the loop hemphole," before correcting himself to say "the hemp loophole from the 2018 Farm Bill."
Read more at Marijuana Moment