Hemp

Kentucky Republican Congressman James Comer has joined a legislative effort to delay the enforcement of new federal regulations on hemp that are currently set to take effect later this year – ones that some farmers and business owners say would devastate the hemp industry.

A provision in the government funding bill that will limit the amount of THC in hemp-derived products to 0.4 milligrams per container starting in November 2026 is leaving farmers and business owners scrambling to adjust their operations and stay afloat.

A hemp company opened a new production facility in Louisville, but Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul said it may go out of business due to legislation passed by Congress last month.

Several Kentucky Congressmen called on U.S. House leadership to block budget language that would ban certain hemp-derived products, joining hemp farmers.

A Kentucky company says a new Tennessee law regulating hemp discriminates against out-of-state businesses.

Community leaders joined HempWood’s founder and employees Tuesday to celebrate the company’s addition of a second factory on its Murray campus – capitalizing on a growth in the hemp industry in the Bluegrass State and nationwide.

McConnell says the bill would close an unintended loophole from his 2018 bill to legalize hemp, but industry leaders fear a ban could decimate the hemp industry.

The bill passed earlier in the week with a late amendment to ban the sale of all hemp-derived beverages in Kentucky, but lawmakers dropped that provision on the Senate floor.

A newly amended bill would temporarily ban the sale of low-THC hemp beverages in Kentucky.

A new Kentucky law will limit which nicotine vapes businesses can sell. But a lawsuit claims it’s unconstitutional because it will restrict hemp-derived and cannabis vapes, too.