According to U.S. regulations, once a hemp plant exceeds a 0.3% THC concentration standard, it magically turns into cannabis. Despite nearly 80 years of precedent, one senator wants to more than triple the THC limit.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) this week said he would ease “unnecessary restrictions” on the federally legal cannabis industry and create transparency and certainty by defining margins of error for cannabis testing. Introduced the Cannabis Economic Mobilization Plan (HEMP) Act. .
The HEMP Act is a five-page bill that would amend the Agricultural Products Marketing Act of 1946 and redefine hemp from 0.3% THC to 1% THC on a dry weight basis. The HEMP method also provides a 0.075% delta-9 THC cushion against measurement uncertainty after decarboxylation testing, especially for product industrial hemp transportation equipment during shipping.
Many hemp industry advocates for raising the current 0.3% THC limit argue that this cutoff is arbitrary and lacks scientific support (i.e., smoking There is no data to suggest that flower is addictive compared to the non-intoxicating 0.3% THC limit).
The 0.3% THC limit may be arbitrary, but its origins are not, Joy Beckerman, managing director of Hemp Ace International, told Cannabis Business Times in 2021. Hemp Ace International provides consulting, legal support and expert services.
The 0.3% THC limit for hemp dates back to the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946, but the current policy decision dates back to 1976 when Canadian horticulturists Ernest Small and Arthur Cronquist created a “Practical Natural Taxonomy”. Beckerman said that when he published a paper in the journal Taxon titled, For cannabis. ”
In the article, Small and Cronquist write: “We arbitrarily adopted a concentration of 0.3% delta-9 THC (on a dry weight basis) in young, vigorous leaves of relatively mature plants as a guide to distinguish between the two classes of plants. Please note that “plants''. ”
For nearly 50 years, lawmakers, public policy agencies, and the Congressional Research Service have frequently referred to its provisions in influencing the nation's laws.
RELATED: THC limits in final hemp rule aren't surprising
In 2024, Paul intends to depart from the status quo with the HEMP Act.
The libertarian-leaning senator's bill would not only require testing of hemp flowers and the plant itself, but would also require testing of products containing hemp-derived cannabinoids.
Under current regulations, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) requires laboratory testing within 30 days of harvest time to determine whether hemp meets the 0.3% Delta-9 THC threshold defined in the 2018 Farm Bill. It is mandatory to receive it. This pre-harvest testing standard has, in part, led to the proliferation of addictive hemp-derived cannabinoid edible and beverage products.
Today, the U.S. hemp-derived cannabinoid market is “conservatively” estimated at $28.4 billion, including non-intoxicating CBD products, according to Whitney Economics' 2023 National Cannabinoid Report.
Related: How do U.S. hemp-derived cannabinoid sales compare to craft beer sales?
Paul's bill, which focuses on industrial hemp as an agricultural product, would protect federally legal hemp from being seized by government agencies while in transit by requiring one of two documents at the time of transportation: It is also intended to prevent
A copy of a valid license or other required permit from the state Department of Agriculture or tribal government. or a copy of a certificate from a laboratory certifying that the hemp contains less than 1% Delta-9 THC on a dry weight basis.
“For years, I have led the fight in Washington to restore one of Kentucky's most historically important crops by legalizing industrial hemp,” Paul said in announcing the bill. This was stated in a press release dated September 26th. “While we have achieved hard-won victories, there is still work to be done to prevent the federal government from burdening farmers with unnecessary bureaucratic micromanagement. It will help this growing industry reach its full economic potential and bring transparency to government regulation.”
Paul's bill puts the total value of industrial hemp in the U.S. at $291 million in 2023, up slightly from the previous year, compared to $824 million in 2021, according to the USDA's latest national hemp report. This was implemented in response to a 65% decrease from $1,000,000.
Also, the total 21,079 acres harvested in 2023 was a 37% decrease compared to the 33,480 acres harvested in 2021, according to the USDA.
In Kentucky specifically, farmers harvested 1,210 acres of industrial hemp in 2023, a 19% decrease from the 1,500 acres harvested in 2021, according to the USDA.
According to Paul's press release, the HEMP Act “ensures Kentucky can rebuild its hemp industry and move forward into a prosperous future.”
