Bill to reopen government includes plan to ban THC gummies, drinks, hemp

The government funding bill signed by President Donald Trump and passed by Congress to end the shutdown includes language that will ban the sale of all intoxicating hemp products. The amendment was added to the bill and will take effect in one year.

The measure bans the sale of hemp products that contain more than 0.4 milligrams per container of total tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Additionally, it sets limits on cannabinoids with similar effects and prohibits cannabinoids synthesized or made outside of the plant.

The FDA is expected to release a list within 90 days outlining which synthetic and natural cannabinoids fall under the ban. Potential products could include certain vapes, THC-infused drinks, and gummies.

Hemp, a derivative of the cannabis plant, was legalized under the 2018 farm bill, which included a loophole that allowed low doses of THC to be sold. The new bill does not ban the sale of nonintoxicating cannabidiol (CBD) and industrial hemp products.

The US Hemp Roundtable warned that the amendment “threatens to eliminate America’s $28.4 billion hemp industry and jeopardizes more than 300,000 American jobs.” The group also estimated that the change would wipe out 95 percent of the market, shut down small businesses and farms, and cost states $1.5 billion in lost tax revenue.

Senator Rand Paul attempted to introduce an amendment to remove the language from the Senate bill, but the effort was tabled. Paul argued that it “couldn’t come at a worse time for America’s farmers” and that the measure will “eradicate the hemp industry.”

Supporters of the restrictions say they are necessary. Senator Mitch McConnell argued that companies have “exploited” the loophole in the 2018 farm bill by “taking legal amounts of THC from hemp and turning it into intoxicating substances.” Last month, dozens of attorneys general sent a letter to Congress warning that the loophole had been “wrongly exploited by bad actors to sell recreational synthetic THC products across the country.”