A powerful Senate committee has approved a bill that contains provisions hemp industry stakeholders say would devastate the market by banning consumable hemp products with any "quantifiable" amount of THC. However, bipartisan members agreed to delay the implementation of the ban for one year.
On Thursday, July 10, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA spending legislation that covers the next fiscal year—and also includes provisions that would significantly revise hemp laws following the crop's legalization under the 2018 Farm Bill. The bill "closes the hemp loophole that has resulted in the proliferation of unregulated intoxicating hemp products being sold across the country," a committee summary says.
Ahead of the panel vote, several sources told Marijuana Moment that Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who championed hemp legalization through that 2018 legislation while serving as majority leader, was behind the restrictive cannabis language, vying to redefine his legacy by recriminalizing intoxicating cannabinoid products such as delta-8 THC.
At Thursday's hearing, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) said he appreciates McConnell's concerns but worries that the new prohibition would be overbroad and impact even non-intoxicating products, saying the language "addresses one very important issue, but causes another problem."
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