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Can the new Farm Bill ban intoxicating hemp products?
According to a new Congressional Research Service report, the answer is yes.
As we reported last month, the House version of the 2024 Farm Bill includes language that would “close the loophole” on intoxicating hemp products. Now, a House Ag spending bill includes the same language.
Here is what the new CRS report, which you can read here, has to say about this effort:
“Changing the basis for determining the legal limits for hemp on its Total THC (including THCA) concentration is broadly consistent with regulatory practices established by USDA. (USDA’s 2021 final hemp regulations provide a rationale for this determination.)
The exclusion of synthetic compounds is consistent with an April 2024 determination by DEA regarding the control status of cannabis compound, hexahydrocannabinol (HHC) under DEA laws. In that case, DEA determined that HHC ‘does not occur naturally in the Cannabis sativa L. plant and can only be obtained synthetically, and therefore does not fall under the definition of hemp.’”
Colorado AG sues company for “falsely marketing marijuana products” as hemp.
Attorney General Phil Weiser has filed a lawsuit against Gee Distributors, LCC (dba CBDDY) and its owner because the company “illegally sold cannabis products marketed as federally legal industrial hemp even though the products contained up to 35 times higher THC levels than allowed by law,” Weiser said in the announcement.
This is the first such lawsuit brought by Weiser.
“In this case, the defendant recklessly sold products that were, in some cases, more potent even than what is sold in state-licensed dispensaries with little regard for requirements like lab testing and age verification. As this action shows, we will hold accountable anyone who evades Colorado cannabis laws,” Weiser said.
The company sold edibles, flower, and concentrates. Investigators found that workers “forged or altered certificates of analysis to misrepresent its products as legal,” that there were major age verification issues, and that the company made health claims.
Other companies, especially those that note that their products are 100% “compliant” under the Farm Bill, might want to pay attention.
“Though the company claimed their products were industrial hemp, even going so far as to claim they were ‘100% compliant’ with federal law, analysis of samples that investigators purchased from the company revealed THC content far higher than legal limits,” Weiser’s office noted.
Hemp beverage companies sue state over THC limits.
Climbing Kites and Field Day Brewing Co. are suing the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services. Read the lawsuit here.
The suit comes after this year’s passage of House File 2605, a bill that restricts hemp products to <.03% THC or fewer than 4 mg per serving. With the legislation scheduled to take effect July 1, the lawsuit seeks an injunction.
“Products that account for approximately 85% of plaintiffs’ revenue will become illegal because of the department’s interpretation,” the lawsuit reads.
