The new draft of the Senate’s US Farm Bill contains ‘concerning provisions’ around hemp, according to a leading lobby group.
Following the publication of a new draft of the highly anticipated US Farm Bill last week, the US Hemp Roundtable has raised concerns about the language involved and has urged Congress to reconsider.
As Business of Cannabis recently reported, the updated draft now redefines 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.
Dubbed the ‘Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act of 2024’, and follows the publication of the House’s proposals in May this year, which soon became notorious for its proposals, which would effectively ban 90% of hemp products.
Now the two bodies must work together to find some on their differing proposals for hemp, with the Senate bill providing a much more balanced but still ‘concerning’ position for hemp businesses.
Its now expected that this will not happen until 2025, when the new Congress convenes for the first time.
The draft would redefine 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, in a concerted effort to close the ‘loophole’ which has enabled intoxicating hemp-derived substances from flourishing across the country.
Changing the Farm Bill to exclude intoxicating hemp products would likely require an act of Congress, as the current regulatory structure does not allow for that.
There have been unsuccessful attempts, like Ron Wyden’s bill, to address this issue legislatively. The focus seems to be on creating a regulatory structure that does not incentivize synthetic THC products.
The US Hemp Roundtable has suggested that the passage of this bill is more crucial than ever.
“The attempt to ban certain hemp products, rather than robustly regulate them, highlights the urgent need for Congress to enact S. 5243, Senator Ron Wyden’s Cannabinoid Safety and Regulation Act. This bill will provide much-needed federal guidance for hemp products, replacing misguided prohibition with a balanced regulatory framework,” it said in a statement.
Furthermore, there is reportedly a discussion happening around the possibility of the administration taking a more common-sense approach and moving regulation of intoxicating hemp products to the HHS and FDA, separate from the Farm Bill.
