Kentucky lawmakers influence federal debate over hemp’s future

FRANKFORT, Ky. (FOX 56) — Federal lawmakers are working to agree on an agriculture funding bill that advocates are warning could cause Kentucky’s hemp industry to collapse.

“We’re seven years later, because of the lack of regulation on the federal level, because of bad actors. Now there is an effort to throw the baby out with the bathwater,” Jonathan Miller told FOX 56 News.

The 2018 Farm Bill essentially legalized hemp in the United States, a plant in the cannabis family that is non-intoxicating compared to its more controversial counterpart. It’s this plant that’s responsible for most CBD products that have grown in popularity since legalization. That all could be over if the House and Senate agree to more restrictive language in an FDA appropriations bill banning any amount of the psychoactive chemical.

“So, if it has any THC that could be measured, it would be criminalized. And that includes 95% of all hemp products, including non-intoxicating CBD products. Because most CBD products have a little bit of THC in them,” Miller explained.

FOX 56 Political Analyst Jonathan Miller is one of the leading voices at the table for the industry. He also serves as general counsel for the US Hemp Roundtable.  He explained that the political desire to roll back the law is largely due to bad players who’ve exploited marketing that many believe is targeting kids.

“There are products out there that say that they’re Doritos or Skittles, but they actually have a lot of THC in them. And there are others that just are manufactured poorly,” he said.

Miller is among those who argue that more regulation is preferred than an outright ban. 4 of Kentucky’s Congressmen agree. In a bipartisan effort led by Reps. Jamie Comer and Morgan McGarvey, in addition to Reps. Andy Barr and Thomas Massie, their names topline a letter signed by a total of 27 House lawmakers opposing that section of the bill. In the Senate, Kentucky’s lawmakers are split; Sen. Mitch McConnell supports restricting hemp, at odds with Sen. Rand Paul. The lack of consensus between both chambers had led to two versions of the bill being considered.

“Now, the House and the Senate are going to be moving towards a conference committee to iron out the differences between these two bills. And again, the House has the ban on it. The Senate does not,” Miller explained.

How soon the committee meets could be dependent on how soon a government shutdown is dealt with, and even then, support could be swayed even further by President Trump, who over the weekend posted a video promoting health benefits from CBD.