A coalition of Democratic senators are imploring colleagues to derail any attempt to ban all hemp products containing THC, asserting that it would deal a “fatal blow” to the industry that emerged during President Donald Trump’s first term.
While agriculture spending legislation that advanced in the Senate was stripped of provisions championed by Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) that would’ve recriminalized marketing of hemp with any quantifiable amounts of THC, Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) led a letter on Tuesday urging leadership to resist any effort to revive the proposal.
Specifically, they said the ban proposal would “decimate the American agricultural hemp industry and imperil states’ ability to prevent unsafe hemp-derived cannabinoid products from getting into the hands of children.”
“We ask to work with you and interested members to protect consumers by effectively regulating hemp-derived cannabinoid products instead of passing language that will instantly drive thousands of acres of crop value across America, including 3,900 acres in South Dakota, to zero,” the letter says, referring to the home state of Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD).
Acknowledging that the unregulated hemp cannabinoid market presents “safety concerns,” the senators said the language included in the original Senate bill
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