A group of 58 hemp farmers from 20 different counties in Kentucky signed a letter sent to GOP Sen. Mitch McConnell on Monday, urging him to not insert language in any bill that would “criminalize” the sale of hemp-derived cannabinoids.
The letter comes as Congress approaches a federal government shutdown in October, attempting to avoid it by passing a short-term spending bill by Sept. 30 — the contents of which are still in flux.
McConnell angered many in the hemp industry in July, when he inserted language into an agriculture spending bill that critics said would “devastate” the industry. Those critics included Sen. Rand Paul — a fellow Kentucky Republican — who successfully stripped McConnell’s provision from the bill before it cleared the chamber three weeks later.
The hemp farmers’ letter this week urges an in-person meeting with McConnell, demanding that he not attempt to insert similar language into another legislative vehicle.
“If Congress moves to eliminate the end markets that make our crop viable, we will suffer
immediate and catastrophic consequences,” stated the hemp farmers. “Any legislative change that pulls the rug out from under this market — especially mid-season — is a direct blow to our farms, families, and rural communities.”
McConnell was instrumental in first legalizing hemp, adding what has been referred to as a “loophole” in a 2018 farm bill that allowed hemp with low amounts of THC, the psychoactive component in cannabis plants.
However, McConnell is now advocating for closing this same loophole, citing its “unintended consequence” of allowing intoxicating hemp-derived synthetic products to flood the market in the following years with no federal regulatory structure. He also took direct aim at certain synthetic Delta-8 products that he said were marketed to kids.
McConnell’s language would have directed the FDA to set a “quantifiable limit” for THC allowed in hemp-derived CBD products, with his spokesperson adding that “products such as CBD do not contain THC and would continue to be legal.”
This claim has been strongly disputed by those in the hemp industry, who argue that common non-intoxicating CBD products have natural traces of THC. They fear such a provision could put CBD products on the chopping block, along with the synthetic intoxicating products that McConnell is targeting.
Sen. Paul was hailed by the hemp industry when he successfully struck McConnell’s provision from the agriculture spending bill in July. He said a similar provision in the House would “completely destroy the American hemp industry” and prohibit the sale of CBD products.
Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Jonathan Shell also criticized legislative attempts at a ban, saying it would “criminalize non-intoxicating CBD products in our hemp program.”
McConnell’s language that was removed at Paul’s urging in July was slightly watered down from a version in the House, delaying implementation of the new hemp definition for one year, which McConnell said would “help give our hemp farmers ample time to prepare for their future.”
In the letter to McConnell this week urging him not to insert a similar provision into another bill, Kentucky hemp farmers said they support "reasonable regulation,” but that “outright prohibition is not the answer, and it will not make anyone safer.”
“Banning legal hemp products that are already regulated at the state level will not protect
consumers, it will empower the illicit market and destroy American farm income in the process,” the letter stated.
The Kentucky General Assembly has passed laws in recent years to strengthen regulation over hemp-derived products, including beverages and synthetic Delta-8 THC products.
“Let us prove once again that Kentucky leadership is the answer to bad actors and unsafe products by enforcing and enriching the robust regulations that have set Kentucky apart and ahead of all others,” the farmers’ letter continued.
One of the farmers to sign the letter is Nic Johnson, a longtime hemp farmer who grows acres of product at his farm in Wilmore that are used in CBD products sold across the country.
At his farm earlier this month, where he was beginning to harvest his crop, Johnson said attempts by both Congress and other states to ban the sale of hemp with any amounts of THC — used to relieve pain, anxiety and insomnia — would wreck the wholesale side of their industry.
“If they did away with hemp completely, it would definitely decimate us,” Johnson said.
Asked about the hemp farmers’ letter, McConnell spokesman Robert Steurer told Kentucky Public Radio in an email that the senator “continues to have conversations with interested parties on both sides of the issue.”
“His hemp language simply restores the original intent of the original bill and closes the loophole,” Steurer wrote. “Under the language, industrial hemp and CBD products remain legal.”
Congress has until just before midnight on Sept. 30 to pass a spending bill into law, or else federal agencies must discontinue certain functions deemed “non-essential.”
State government and politics reporting is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
