A Republican congressman who plans to imminently file legislation to federally regulate hemp-derived products in place of a ban that’s currently scheduled to go into effect later this year says the plan faces opposition from a coalition of strange bedfellows that includes sectors of the alcohol industry, marijuana businesses and cannabis legalization opponents.
Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) said during a Zoom meeting with members of the group Hemp Industry & Farmers of America (HIFA) on Thursday that his bill will create “a regulatory and tax framework” that “would provide a lifeline and a…durable legal pathway for this marketplace,” according to a transcript obtained by Marijuana Moment.
Hemp derivatives with less than 0.3 percent delta-9 THC on a dry-weight basis were federally legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill that President Donald Trump signed during his first term in office. But late last year, Trump signed new legislation containing provisions that will redefine hemp to make it so only products with 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container will remain legal after November 12.
Barr said the planned recriminalization of hemp THC products would “jeopardize the existing crop that is in storage right now” after having been grown by farmers and would
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