A.G. Gancarski
A hemp bill that once imposed onerous THC caps and a controversial ban on synthetic derived cannabinoids was changed in the House, and now the Senate version matches that bill.
The Senate bill was changed in committees before hitting the floor, with a strike-all amendment that cut both items.
The end result is a product that maintains age limits for purchase and usage, as well as a ban on packaging that’s “attractive to children.” But the essential product itself will largely be unchanged in the wake of intense and sustained pushback from the in-state hemp industry.
Sen. Colleen Burton’s legislation (SB 1676) originally envisioned a limit of 0.5 milligrams of THC per dose, or 2 milligrams per container, a proposal which rankled the hemp industry. The complaint was that the seemingly arbitrary limit would impact people who use the product for medical purposes, and would have placed burdens on producers and marketers that would have made commercial hemp cost-prohibitive.
The bill still curbs “hemp edibles” making their way to minors, adding “consumer safety” provisions including testing of the product. The bill still deals primarily with food and food safety, and does not affect creams, lotions, shampoos and other “non-ingestible hemp products.”
HB 1475, sponsored by Rep. Will Robinson, is on Monday’s Special Order calendar in the House, meaning it’s likely the legislation will make it through there as well.
