(The Center Square) – Although hemp legislation has stalled in the Illinois General Assembly, a move to prohibit intoxicating hemp-derived tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) products advanced in Congress this week.
The U.S. House Appropriations Committee included the provision as part of the Fiscal Year 2026 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Bill, which advanced out of committee on Monday.
Jordan Davidson, government affairs director at Smart Approaches to Marijuana, said the measure would ban intoxicating hemp products.
“What this legislation says is, ‘Look, we’re gonna take those products off the shelves of gas stations around the country where they’re sold in candy and candy-flavored products to kids of really any age.’ It’s a public health crisis, and finally Congress is doing something about it,” Davidson told The Center Square.
Davidson said Illinois U.S. Rep. Mary Miller, R-Oakland, led efforts to move the legislation.
“Representative Miller kind of took the initiative and said, ‘Hey, I want to spearhead this. I want to protect our kids, protect our communities and make sure that we’re not having increased access to harmful products that are addicting our children and having detrimental mental and physical health impact on those who use them,’” Davidson said.
Illinois state Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago, said it’s sad that the federal government would double down on a prohibition.
“It will make it a new war on drugs in the country and that’s unfortunate, because we know prohibitions didn’t work and they still don’t work. What we have now in process is another prohibition that will cost taxpayers billions of dollars in prosecution and incarceration,” Ford told The Center Square.
Davidson said the only effective public health and safety solution is to prevent intoxicating hemp products from being sold.
“Unfortunately, you can’t really tax and regulate this stuff. We already saw a major loophole in the 2018 farm bill that Congress passed that was signed into law that created this whole issue,” Davidson said.
Ford said the congressional action could be a wake-up call for Illinois to regulate Delta-8 hemp the way it regulates Delta-9 cannabis. He said a federal ban would prevent people from getting loans to open or scale up their businesses and turn hemp into a cash industry.
“It really puts the cartel in charge because it’s still going to be sold on our streets in urban cities as cannabis was and is still being sold illicitly,” Ford said.
The Illinois Healthy Alternatives Association has scheduled an event to discuss the hemp regulatory environment in the state.
Ford is slated to be the roundtable moderator at Aspire Center on Chicago’s West Side from 10 a.m. until noon July 10. The group plans to hold additional events around the state.
