In the USA, Congressmen Tim Moore and Jim Baird have introduced the Hemp Planting Predictability Act that aims to provide a two-year breathing space on upcoming intoxicating hemp restrictions.
A provision in a funding deal to re-open the US Government last year contained language banning the unregulated sale of intoxicating hemp-based products such as those containing delta-8 THC. While not affecting hemp food, grain or fibre, hemp industry advocacy group Hemp Roundtable said the ban will impact more than 95% of all hemp extract products.
Under current settings, it will be a year before the language will go into effect and the industry has been scrambling to have the decision reversed with the aim of better regulation rather than a ban.
To provide farmers and small business owners more certainty while giving Congress more time to develop a thoughtful, long-term framework, the congressmen’s legislation would institute a two-year extension on the hemp provision.
“A decision with major consequences for farmers and small businesses belongs in the Agriculture Committee, instead of being buried in a government funding bill,” said Congressman Moore. “I’ll keep fighting to ensure North Carolina’s hemp growers have a seat at the table and aren’t regulated out of business.”
As for Congressman Baird, he said:
“Congress should not have passed such a sweeping policy change that upends a growing industry. Instead, Congress should have given farmers more time, creating a more stable environment for farmers to modify their future planting decisions.”
This legislation has been cosponsored by James Comer, Angie Craig, Congressman Tim Moore and Congressman Gabe Evans.
Commenting on the bill, the Hemp Roundtable stated farmers and businesses are not asking Congress to avoid regulation, but to ensure lawmakers, not uncertainty, decide the future of legal hemp.
“At a critical moment for American hemp farmers, this legislation provides much-needed certainty as growers across the country have only weeks to decide whether to plant. Without congressional action, uncertainty at the farm level could trigger widespread supply-chain disruptions, impacting processors, manufacturers, retailers, and small businesses nationwide.”
The full text of the Hemp Planting Predictability Act (H.R. 7024) can be found here.
