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Amendment killing nationally legal cannabis makes it into House farm bill
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/4685100-house-farm-bill-amendment-cannabis-hemp-ban/A ban on intoxicating hemp products has made it into the House version of the farm bill. If the amendment makes it through a polarized House and divided Congress, it would end America’s brief experiment with nationally legal cannabis. The language added to the House version of the farm bill by Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.) in effect repeals a sweeping legal change passed by an all-Republican coalition in 2018’s farm bill.
That previous bill made it far easier for American farmers to grow nonintoxicating varieties of cannabis, defined in the statute as “hemp,” for industrial and medical use. But vagueness in the law’s wording, combined with the fact that intoxicating and nonintoxicating varieties of cannabis (“hemp” and “marijuana,” respectively) are functionally the same plant, allowed the evolution over the past six years of something not seen in America since the Gilded Age: a thriving market in universally available and largely unregulated cannabis products, as The Hill reported.
“Because of the ambiguity created by the 2018 Farm Bill, a massive gray market worth an estimated $28 billion has exploded,” a coalition of 22 state attorneys general wrote Congress in March, demanding members shut it down. The 2018 law forced “cannabis-equivalent products into our economies regardless of states’ intentions to legalize cannabis use, and dangerously undermining regulations and consumer protections in states where adult-use legal cannabis programs are already in place.”
Miller’s amendment, which was co-sponsored by Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.), who is from a state with legal marijuana, restricts the definition of legal hemp to “naturally, occurring, naturally derived and non-intoxicating cannabinoids.” That likely means cannabinoids like delta-8 THC (naturally occurring but generally chemically derived and certainly intoxicating) would be out. So, too, would intoxicating drinks and edibles containing delta-9 THC or THCa — different names for what is roughly the same active chemical in the “marijuana” sold in regulated states like California.
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/dariosabaghi/2024/05/24/house-committee-approves-farm-bill-amendment-to-ban-delta-8-thc/?sh=226f79ef9c4a
An amendment to the new Farm Bill may put an end to the gray market for intoxicating hemp-derived products, such as delta-8 THC, by closing the loophole opened by the 2018 Farm Bill. The U.S. House Committee on Agriculture voted on Thursday to approve an amendment proposed by Republican Rep. Mary Miller for Illinois that would ban intoxicating hemp-derived and synthesized cannabinoid products, which has been added to the 2024 Farm Bill draft. As a result, the amendment would federally ban all hemp-derived products like delta-8 THC, semi-synthetic cannabinoids like HHC, as well as synthesized products like THC-O, disrupting a $28 billion gray industry. The amendment also reformulates the definition of "hemp" introduced in the 2018 Farm Bill, which led to the rise of the intoxicating hemp-derived and synthesized cannabinoid gray market.
Specifically, it distinguishes between two categories of hemp: 'hemp grown for cannabinoid extraction,' used for producing non-intoxicating substances, and 'industrial hemp,' used for non-cannabinoid purposes like food, fiber, and research. This new definition contrasts with the 2018 Farm Bill's all-inclusive definition of hemp. Should this amendment become part of the 2024 Farm Bill, it will significantly change the landscape of the hemp industry in the country. Hemp was federally legalized in 2018 with the Farm Bill that allowed the cultivation of cannabis with a THC level equal to or below 0.3% in order to ensure that its products destined for human consumption wouldn't possess the intoxicating properties of adult-use cannabis, which is still federally illegal.
However, the extraction of cannabinoids from hemp not only created a multi-billion dollar market for CBD—a non-intoxicating cannabis compound with reported health benefits—but also led to the manufacturing and sale of intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoids like delta-8 THC, which has reported milder effects compared to the THC found in adult-use cannabis. Widely available in shops, gas stations, and online across the states, regardless of cannabis's legal status at the state level, these products became popular and created a profitable market. A 2022 study has shown they are used more by people living in states without adult-use cannabis legalization.
Meanwhile, several states have begun to ban or regulate these products, addressing the legislative void and ambiguity created by the legalization of hemp and the extraction of its cannabinoids, as their legality at the federal level remains a matter of debate. It might seem that the adult-use cannabis industry would support the hemp-derived and synthesized cannabinoid gray market, but that is not the case. In fact, some cannabis lobbyists, politicians advocating for federal legalization, law enforcement, cannabis companies, and trade groups are pushing Congress to close a loophole that allows the production and sale of intoxicating substances derived from legal hemp, while hemp industry players are asking lawmakers to leave the federal definition of hemp unchanged because otherwise, the amendment that aims to close the loophole and crack down on this emerging industry would "kill the hemp industry," as stated by hemp business advocacy organization U.S. Hemp Roundtable in a press release.
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An amendment to the new Farm Bill may put an end to the gray market for intoxicating hemp-derived products, such as delta-8 THC, by closing the loophole opened by the 2018 Farm Bill. The U.S. House Committee on Agriculture voted on Thursday to approve an amendment proposed by Republican Rep. Mary Miller for Illinois that would ban intoxicating hemp-derived and synthesized cannabinoid products, which has been added to the 2024 Farm Bill draft. As a result, the amendment would federally ban all hemp-derived products like delta-8 THC, semi-synthetic cannabinoids like HHC, as well as synthesized products like THC-O, disrupting a $28 billion gray industry. The amendment also reformulates the definition of "hemp" introduced in the 2018 Farm Bill, which led to the rise of the intoxicating hemp-derived and synthesized cannabinoid gray market.
Specifically, it distinguishes between two categories of hemp: 'hemp grown for cannabinoid extraction,' used for producing non-intoxicating substances, and 'industrial hemp,' used for non-cannabinoid purposes like food, fiber, and research. This new definition contrasts with the 2018 Farm Bill's all-inclusive definition of hemp. Should this amendment become part of the 2024 Farm Bill, it will significantly change the landscape of the hemp industry in the country. Hemp was federally legalized in 2018 with the Farm Bill that allowed the cultivation of cannabis with a THC level equal to or below 0.3% in order to ensure that its products destined for human consumption wouldn't possess the intoxicating properties of adult-use cannabis, which is still federally illegal.
However, the extraction of cannabinoids from hemp not only created a multi-billion dollar market for CBD—a non-intoxicating cannabis compound with reported health benefits—but also led to the manufacturing and sale of intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoids like delta-8 THC, which has reported milder effects compared to the THC found in adult-use cannabis. Widely available in shops, gas stations, and online across the states, regardless of cannabis's legal status at the state level, these products became popular and created a profitable market. A 2022 study has shown they are used more by people living in states without adult-use cannabis legalization.
Meanwhile, several states have begun to ban or regulate these products, addressing the legislative void and ambiguity created by the legalization of hemp and the extraction of its cannabinoids, as their legality at the federal level remains a matter of debate. It might seem that the adult-use cannabis industry would support the hemp-derived and synthesized cannabinoid gray market, but that is not the case. In fact, some cannabis lobbyists, politicians advocating for federal legalization, law enforcement, cannabis companies, and trade groups are pushing Congress to close a loophole that allows the production and sale of intoxicating substances derived from legal hemp, while hemp industry players are asking lawmakers to leave the federal definition of hemp unchanged because otherwise, the amendment that aims to close the loophole and crack down on this emerging industry would "kill the hemp industry," as stated by hemp business advocacy organization U.S. Hemp Roundtable in a press release.
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