Bipartisan Bill To Save Hemp Industry From Renewed Federal Criminalization Could Be Filed This Week, Rand Paul Says

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A Republican senator said he expects bipartisan legislation to be introduced in Congress this week to avert what he called the “disaster” of the federal recriminalization of hemp THC products that is set to be enacted later this year.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said in an online town hall meeting he hosted on Tuesday that hemp has “become a multi-billion-dollar industry” since products with less than 0.3 percent delta-9 THC on a drug-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 in a way that advocates say stands to destroy the industry, making it so only products with 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container will remain legal.

“I lament the government’s trying to destroy this industry now, but I’m doing everything I can and working across the aisle with a Democrat senator to try to say that if your state has decided to regulate hemp, then the state law would supersede the federal law, which is kind of really the way it’d be ought to be,” Paul said.

The GOP senator said he and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) plan to file legislation “that I think is going to be introduced this week” to give states a way around the broad federal prohibition that’s scheduled to take effect in November.

“She’s on the Agricultural Committee, and they do the Farm Bill. Our hope is that she can get a vote in committee to try to attach this to the Farm Bill,” Paul said of the forthcoming standalone hemp relief bill. “We’re keeping our fingers crossed, but it’s difficult for those in business right now, because it’s a crop, it has to be planted, and if it’s going to be made illegal in November, farmers are wondering whether they should plant it this year.”

The text of the Paul-Klobuchar hemp bill has not yet been made publicly available, but a source told Marijuana Moment on Thursday that its provisions would effectively allow states to opt out of the federal hemp THC recriminalization policy and conduct interstate commerce between themselves.

Paul, for his part, said in the town hall meeting this week that “Kentucky has a successful hemp industry.”

“There are new startup companies now. They’ve expanded to the tune of millions of dollars,” he said. “And it’s been good for Kentucky. It’s good for Kentucky farmers. It’s a cash crop, kind of like tobacco—not as big as tobacco, but kind of like tobacco as a cash crop—and I think we ought to expand it.”

Watch Paul’s full hemp comments, beginning around 41:50 into the video below:

Paul had previously said back in November of last year that his planned hemp reform bill could be filed within days, but that didn’t materialize.

Other lawmakers have introduced legislation to delay the scheduled recriminalization of hemp THC products, but those efforts have not gained traction with congressional leadership.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration this month launched a new initiative to cover up to $500 worth of hemp-derived products each year for eligible Medicare patients. The program being implemented by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) focuses largely on CBD but also allows a certain amount of THC in products.

Anti-marijuana organizations filed a lawsuit suit against the Medicare hemp coverage policy, and lawyers for Health and Human Services Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and CMS Director Mehmet Oz recently filed a brief asking that the case be dismissed.

Meanwhile, the White House Office of Management and Budget has been holding a series of meetings about a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) CBD products enforcement policy.

FDA also issued guidance making clear that it does not intend to interfere with implementation of the Medicare hemp-derived products coverage plan.

CMS separately finalized a rule that will allow coverage of some hemp products as specialized, non-primarily health-related benefits through Medicare Advantage plans.

As hemp products have become more popular with consumers, some large brands are attempting to get in on action.

Major retailer Target, for example, is expanding its participation in the hemp-derived THC beverage market. Last year, the company began a pilot program involving sales of cannabis drinks at 10 select stores in Minnesota. That apparently went well, and now the company has obtained licenses from Minnesota regulators to sell lower-potency hemp edible products—including THC drinks—at all 72 of its stores in the state.

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