Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 7/5/22

Hemp growers continue to struggle with confusion around regulations for the crop, four years after Congress legalized its sale, POLITICO’s Mona Zhang and Paul Demko report.

Courts, regulators and lawmakers are still trying to work out how to deal with hemp and its derivatives — which can include the intoxicating Delta-8 THC — amid regulatory inaction.

The FDA’s stance continues to be that most ingestible hemp-derived products are illegal, although its enforcement actions have largely been limited to sending out warning letters to companies that make dubious medical claims.

Recent changes to hemp law: Several states have recently had events that have once again turned the market upside down for growers.

The Texas Supreme Court upheld a ban on producing smokable hemp products; Oregon regulators banned the process used to create Delta-8 THC; a Kansas dispensary filed a lawsuit over the seizure of its intoxicating Delta-8 THC products; and lawmakers in North Carolina nearly made hemp illegal again before a last minute agreement in the legislature kept it legal.

Ag pressure heats up: Some agriculture groups have urged Congress to revisit hemp in the 2023 farm bill.

The National Association of State Departments of Agriculture has called for Congress to increase the amount of THC allowed in a hemp crop to 1 percent. The current law, authorized by the 2014 farm bill, stands at 0.3 percent, leaving many farmers unable to market their so-called “hot hemp” if it crosses the threshold.

Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.), the chair of the agriculture committee, has also made it a priority to address hemp in the next farm bill.
“We have such a variation of state laws where we are, it’s reminiscent of prohibition time,” Scott said at a February House Financial Services Subcommittee hearing. “We are also going into our farm bill, we’ve got to address this issue, we can no longer hide it.

On the Hill this week: It’s another slow week in Washington as legislators are out on their second week of the July Fourth recess.

But Scott’s House Agriculture Committee on Thursday will hold a listening session for the 2023 farm bill in California, hosted by Costa.