Today, at the instigation of Senator Mitch McConnell, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed language very similar to the hemp ban inserted by Congressman Andy Harris in the House Agriculture Appropriations bill. Here’s the base bill (page 132) and the report language (page 154).
The key difference is a one-year delay on implementation that was secured by Senator Jeff Merkley on behalf of the hemp industry. (Merkley’s amendment is found here p. 2)
The bill has a long path before it is even considered to be law, and the one-year delay buys us time to fix it. The US Hemp Roundtable will be fighting resolutely to defeat this ban and promote robust regulation. Stay tuned, we will continue to rely on your help.
Statement from Jonathan Miller, General Counsel, U.S. Hemp Roundtable:
Senator McConnell got hemp right in the 2018 Farm Bill, and again today when he said that we need to prohibit dangerous synthetic and copycat products, while keeping all hemp products out of the hands of children.
However, how that is done matters. The U.S. Hemp Roundtable believes that the best way to do that is through robust regulation, not prohibition.
Regulation will protect hemp farmers and the $28 billion economic engine that is the hemp industry while also offering the protections that the Senate is seeking. A blanket ban on more than 90% of hemp consumable products is not the right path.
We are grateful to Senator Merkley for negotiating a one-year delay on implementation, to enable time to fix the language that was approved today. We look forward to working with Members of Congress in the coming months on this critical goal.
