A House Appropriations subcommittee advanced a spending bill Thursday that targets a majority of consumable cannabinoid products.
If enacted, the legislation “would represent the most significant federal restriction on hemp since its legalization under the 2018 Farm Bill,” according to The Marijuana Herald. It was approved by the committee’s markup session Thursday, the outlet noted.
The bill was introduced by the Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies.
The legislation would redefine hemp under federal law, excluding any hemp-derived cannabinoid products that have “quantifiable amounts” of tetrahydrocannabinol, or any other cannabinoids that have — or are marketed to have — similar effects on humans.
Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is a psychoactive compound found in the cannabis plant and the primary component responsible for the “high” that is associated with marijuana, according to WebMD. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Web Of Illegal Marijuana Grows Tied To Chinese Communist Party Front Group)
If implemented, the bill would outlaw “any product with a ‘quantifiable’ amount of THC or any cannabinoid that has, or is marketed to have, similar intoxicating effects,” The Marijuana Herald reported. “This would target a broad range of items, including Delta-8 THC, THC-O, and even smokable hemp flower.”
Republican supporters of the bill argued it would target the “hemp loophole.”
The bill will close “the hemp loophole that has resulted in the proliferation of unregulated intoxicating hemp products, including Delta-8 and hemp flower, being sold online and in gas stations across the country,” Chairman of the subcommittee and Republican Maryland Rep. Andy Harris stated in a press release.
The proposal has sparked varying reactions.
Hemp advocates, such as U.S. Hemp Roundtable, claim the bill “could ban the vast majority of safe, legal hemp-derived products sold nationwide,” adding that it “[signals] a direct attack on a lawful, federally regulated industry.”
Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), on the other hand, said the bill is a “big step toward protecting public health and ending the loophole Big Marijuana has exploited for years,” in a X post.
“Despite the claims of Big Marijuana and its advocates, THC-laced candy, drinks, and other products are inherently dangerous,” Luke Niforatos, Vice President of SAM, told the Daily Caller in a statement.
“A ban will, in addition to protecting Americans, choke off a key revenue stream for Big Marijuana and a major source of future adult users by making it harder for kids to get addicted,” Niforatos said. “It’s the ‘Joe Camel’ playbook; Big Tobacco ran it and Big Marijuana is trying to run it again. Congress must make the ban law.”
He called claims that the legislation will endanger industrial hemp “ludicrous.”
“Congress never intended to encourage the production and sale of dangerous and addictive products aimed at the young,” he asserted. “Getting these intoxicating THC products off of gas station shelves in the name of public health and safety is exactly the purpose of this bill.”
Some state governments are also targeting THC products.
Texas is attempting to make it a misdemeanor to “sell, possess or manufacture consumable products” with THC, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.
