The highly anticipated US Farm Bill has been pushed back until next year, leaving the future regulation of intoxicating hemp substances in the hands of individual states.
This week, Congress announced the 2018 US Farm Bill, which legalized hemp containing no more than 0.3% delta-9 THC, unintentionally creating a legal grey market for hemp-derived intoxicating products, would be extended for a year.
A 1500-page spending bill released by Congress on December 17 amid a scramble to avoid a partial shutdown of government now ensures that federal government funding is in place for the through March 14, 2025, and a new administration is in place.
This will now mark the third time the current bill has been extended. This means the 2018 Farm Bill will continue to govern until Congress can agree on a new version, likely in 2025.
It comes as debate around how to regulate this new market reaches fever pitch, with numerous drafts of the federal bill aimed at cracking down on these widely available products overreaching to an extent that they threaten to decimate the non-intoxicating hemp industry.
The latest postponement will come as a disappointment to many of the country’s leading cannabis firms, who believe this unregulated market is eating into their sales.
For hemp farmers, while a welcome respite from serious threats to their businesses, the lack of clear guidance around how hemp is regulated federally will exacerbate increasing frustrations.
In May, Business of Cannabis reported that the ‘Mary Miller’ amendment had been added to the Farm Bill. Despite being aimed at targeting this intoxicating substances derived from low-THC hemp, the amendment would also have a major impact on the country’s hemp and CBD industries, making 90-95% of hemp products on the market, including FDA-approved animal feed, illegal.
Months later, in November, a newly revised bill was proposed, redefining hemp to include ‘total THC’ levels, incorporating all variants like delta-8, delta-10, delta-9 and THCA, and keeping to a 0.3% limit.
It has also introduced a new definition of ‘industrial hemp’, limited explicitly to non-cannabinoid parts of the plant including stalks, fibers and seeds, meaning all the parts used to create these intoxicating compounds are not included.
Now, with the future of regulation in limbo in lieu of a new agreement under the new administration, it is down to individual states to impose their own legislation, which often similarly goes far beyond intoxicating hemp.
Texas is just the latest example. New proposals, dubbed Senate Bill 3, were put forward by Patrick on December 04, alleging that ‘thousands of stores have opened to sell dangerous products with unlimited THC’, and that these stores ‘target your children’.
Stating that the bill is a top priority in the coming legislative session, which is due to reconvene on January 14, Senate Bill 3 is another piece of legislation using the proliferation of intoxicating hemp substances to justify a widespread repeal of access to hemp and cannabis.