(LEX 18) — Kentucky's two Republican senators are at war over a provision that some say could destroy the state's hemp industry.
Senator Mitch McConnell slipped language into the government funding bill that would ban hemp products with more than 0.4 milligrams of THC per container. Claiming kids are at risk of consuming intoxicating THC products.
"Unfortunately, we weren't surprised because this whole discussion has moved from protecting the kids. Now, to protect Senator McConnell's vanity project, which is his legacy," said Justin Swanson, who is with the Kentucky Hemp Association.
"Companies have exploited a loophole in the 2018 legislation by taking legal amounts of THC from hemp and turning it into intoxicating substances," said Republican Senator Mitch McConnell.
However, Kentucky's Republican Jr. Senator, Rand Paul, says that the limit is so low it would eliminate 100% of hemp products in the country.
Paul tried to strip the hemp language from the spending bill, but failed.
"The bill before us nullifies all these state laws and makes the hemp industry kaput," explains Paul. "This is the most thoughtless and ignorant proposal to an industry that I've seen in a long, long time."
"You know it's a 28 billion dollar market across the country and employs almost 350,000 people. So the time when costs are skyrocketing, when health is skyrocketing," admits Swanson. "To take away a choice from people who use these products to improve their quality of life is really annoying."
Swanson stresses that dozens of farmers have harvested crops this year that now could go to waste.
The Senate voted 76-24 to block Paul's amendment, and Kentucky has already passed its own hemp regulations this year, allowing 12 times more THC than the new federal limit.
"It's a giant step backwards for the cannabis reform movement in general. Especially when you understand what was removed from the bill, which was allowing the VA to recommend cannabis to veterans," said Swanson. "That passed both the house and the senate, and then the day before Veterans Day, it's gone."
Cornbread Hemp, one of the several businesses that could lose everything, released a statement on Facebook:
"We have immense gratitude for Sen. Rand Paul and his efforts to block McConnell's hemp ban. While he was joined by Democrats and at least one other Republican, we did not have the support to overcome McConnell and the bourbon industry.
Now that this has gone to the House, we encourage Republicans who believe in states' rights and personal freedom to join the opposition to the minibus appropriations bill unless the prohibition on hemp products is removed. We also encourage Democrats to tell leadership their vote to reopen government is conditional on the removal if this farm-killing language.
If this becomes law as written, it will set a 365-day clock before it destroys the hemp industry. During this one-year window, we can pass a bill to protect the hemp industry and the millions of consumers who have come to depend on them.
We need everyone to come together in this next 365 days to ensure that full-spectrum CBD products and low-dose THC beverages do not become Schedule I narcotics, as designed by McConnell and the bourbon industry."
"I think there's a really big sense of betrayal here. Especially the way it was done. If this was such good policy, let's do it out in the open. Let's have a standalone bill and let's debate it," said Swanson.
The continuing resolution passed the Senate and could become law this week. If it does, the hemp industry has one year before the new rules take effect.
Kentucky Congressman Brett Guthrie now chairs the House committee that could block the provision next year.
