{"id":7155,"date":"2025-11-11T13:18:24","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T19:18:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/11\/deal-ending-government-shutdown-includes-restrictions-on-intoxicating-hemp-products-2\/"},"modified":"2025-11-11T13:18:24","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T19:18:24","slug":"deal-ending-government-shutdown-includes-restrictions-on-intoxicating-hemp-products-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/11\/deal-ending-government-shutdown-includes-restrictions-on-intoxicating-hemp-products-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Deal ending government shutdown includes restrictions on intoxicating hemp products"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Jeff<\/p>\n

Jeff Garland, right, gives a tour of Papa G\u2019s Organic Hemp Farm in Crawford County, Indiana, on June 23, 2022. Jeff and his son started the farm in 2020. \u00a0At left is Lee Schnell of the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service, which is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. \u00a0(NRCS photo by Brandon O\u2019Connor)<\/p>\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 Kentucky\u2019s two U.S. senators sparred this week over the future of the country\u2019s hemp industry \u2014 one arguing that a provision attached to the package that will reopen the government will close a problematic loophole and the other contending the language will regulate the industry \u201cto death.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sen. Mitch McConnell ultimately prevailed and was able to keep the section in the Agriculture appropriations bill cracking down on hemp that Sen. Rand Paul tried to remove during floor debate. Both are Republicans.<\/p>\n

The appropriations bill is riding along with a stopgap spending bill that will end the government shutdown and is expected to be voted on by the House as soon as Wednesday. The hemp measure has raised alarm in farm states benefiting from a robust hemp growing industry.<\/p>\n

Hemp plants have 0.3% or less of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, while cannabis or marijuana plants have higher concentrations of that substance, which is what gives users the \u201chigh or stoned\u201d feeling.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A\u00a0summary of the bill<\/a> put together by Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Susan Collins\u2019 staff says the new language would prevent \u201cthe unregulated sale of intoxicating hemp-based or hemp-derived products, including Delta-8, from being sold online, in gas stations, and corner stores, while preserving non-intoxicating CBD and industrial hemp products.\u201d<\/p>\n

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has\u00a0a warning page<\/a> on its website cautioning \u201cthat delta-8 THC products have not been evaluated or approved by the FDA for safe use in any context.\u201d<\/p>\n

Farm Bill origins<\/h4>\n

McConnell explained he is targeting hemp because its uses have expanded beyond what was intended.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI led the effort to legalize industrial hemp through the 2014 pilot program and the 2018 Farm Bill,\u201d McConnell said. \u201cUnfortunately, companies have exploited a loophole in the 2018 legislation by taking legal amounts of THC from hemp and turning it into intoxicating substances, and then marketing it to children in candy-like packaging and selling it in easily accessible places, like gas stations and convenience stores all across our country.\u201d<\/p>\n

McConnell said the new provision, which won\u2019t take effect until a year after the bill becomes law, would \u201ckeep these dangerous products out of the hands of children while preserving the hemp industry for farmers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paul and Oregon Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley urged their colleagues to remove that McConnell provision from the larger spending package, but were unsuccessful.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the most thoughtless, ignorant proposal to an industry that I\u2019ve seen in a long, long time,\u201d Paul said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The new language would change the definition of what makes a hemp plant legal, a move Paul said would mean \u201cevery plant in the country will have to be destroyed.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis bill\u2019s per-serving THC content limit would make illegal any hemp product that contains more than point four milligrams,\u201d Paul said. \u201cThat would be nearly 100% of the existing market. That amounts to an effective ban, because the limit is so low that the products intended to manage pain or anxiety will lose their effect.\u201d<\/p>\n

State laws said to be nullified<\/h4>\n

The legislation, Paul added, will negatively impact the nearly two dozen states that have set higher limits on hemp production.<\/p>\n

\u201cCurrently, Maine limits THC to three milligrams per serving. That will be overruled. My home state limits THC to five milligrams in beverages; that will be overruled. Minnesota, Utah, Louisiana also have five milligrams per serving. Alabama and Georgia have 10 milligrams. Tennessee has 15 milligrams,\u201d Paul said. \u201cThe bill before us nullifies all these state laws.\u201d<\/p>\n

Merkley said the new provision in the larger spending package would eliminate the hemp industry, which Congress took steps to establish more than a decade ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cI support my other colleague from Kentucky who doesn\u2019t want intoxicated products produced from hemp,\u201d Merkley said. \u201cBut the definition that is in this bill does far more than that, and it has to be fixed. So for now, it needs to be stripped out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Senate\u00a0voted 76-24<\/a> to table, or set aside, Paul\u2019s amendment after McConnell moved to block it from being taken up directly.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Agriculture funding bill is one of three full-year government spending bills included in\u00a0the stopgap spending package<\/a> that will end the government shutdown once the House approves the measure later this week and President Donald Trump signs the bill.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Trade group warns of hundreds of thousands of jobs affected<\/h4>\n

Hemp Industry & Farmers of America Executive Director Brian Swensen wrote in a statement released last week that McConnell\u2019s provision would have a devastating impact on the industry and its workers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cCongress legalized hemp, Americans built an industry, and now Washington wants to pull the rug out from under hardworking farmers and small business owners. The industry wants a solid regulatory package that protects kids, but instead, Congress wants to place industry-killing caps on cannabinoids. Congress is not listening to the industry they created \u2014 they\u2019re dismantling an industry with over 325,000 jobs and driving consumers to an unregulated, unsafe, and untaxed black market.\u201d<\/p>\n

John and Kara Grady, owners of Slappyhappy Hemp Company, said during\u00a0an interview with the Missouri Independent<\/a> the new language could hinder their business, possibly forcing them to close down.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re sick to your stomach all day long,\u201d said Kara Grady, \u201cknowing your hard work is for not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zack Kobrin, a Fort Lauderdale attorney with the firm of Saul Ewing who works in the hemp and cannabis industry,\u00a0told the Florida Phoenix<\/a> that many in the industry \u201care surprised it was such a sudden and sweeping measure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think for those that are cowboys, they will just maximize on making as much as they can until they can\u2019t,\u201d Kobrin said. \u201cI think for those hemp operators that were trying to work with regulators and trying to follow the rules, this will be a real blow.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jeff Garland, right, gives a tour of Papa G\u2019s Organic Hemp Farm in Crawford County, Indiana, on June 23, 2022. Jeff and his son started the farm in 2020. \u00a0At left is Lee Schnell of the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service, which is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. \u00a0(NRCS photo by Brandon O\u2019Connor)…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7156,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nDeal ending government shutdown includes restrictions on intoxicating hemp products - WestplexNews.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/11\/deal-ending-government-shutdown-includes-restrictions-on-intoxicating-hemp-products-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Deal ending government shutdown includes restrictions on intoxicating hemp products - WestplexNews.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Jeff Garland, right, gives a tour of Papa G\u2019s Organic Hemp Farm in Crawford County, Indiana, on June 23, 2022. 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