Farmers Tell Mitch McConnell His Push To Ban Hemp Products With THC Will Cause ‘Catastrophic Consequences’

Dozens of hemp farmers from Kentucky are urging their state’s senior U.S.
senator to back off from his push to recriminalize some products that are
derived from their crops.

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who successfully championed the federal
legalization of hemp through the 2018 Farm Bill, has been working this year
to roll back that policy by prohibiting hemp derivatives with a
“quantifiable” amount of THC, saying that he never intended to allow a
market for intoxicating cannabis products.

The recriminalization proposal has advanced in both the House and Senate
this session, though a push by McConnell’s home state colleague, Sen. Rand
Paul (R-KY), got the provision removed from their chamber’s bill ahead of
its final passage. Paul has cautioned, however, that prohibitionist forces
are working to include the ban in other legislative vehicles—which he said
could potentially be enacted within weeks.

“If Congress moves to eliminate the end markets that make our crop viable,
we will suffer immediate and catastrophic consequences,” the 58 farmers who
have agreements to sell hemp crops they have harvested this season wrote to
McConnell in the new letter on Monday. “We have taken out loans, hired the
necessary help, planted the crop, and contracted with processors and/or
brands. Any legislative change that pulls the rug out from under this
market—especially mid-season—is a direct blow to our farms, families, and
rural communities.”

The farmers, who are requesting an in-person meeting with McConnell, wrote
that “hemp is the foundation of our diversified, sustainable farm
operations that helps us weather tough commodity cycles, diversify away
from tobacco and empower profit in an uncertain economy”—adding that its
federal legalization in 2018 gave them a new crop with “real economic
opportunity” for the “first time in decades.”

While the letter signatories do not support a ban along the lines of what
McConnell has pushed in Congress this year—which they say would “empower
the illicit market and destroy American farm income in the process”—they do
back “responsible regulation” for the crop.

“We support age restrictions along with uniform testing, labeling and
packaging requirements, all of which are reflected in Kentucky’s
award-winning laws and regulations. But outright prohibition is not the
answer, and it will not make anyone safer,” they wrote.

“We are proud of what we grow. We are proud to be building a domestic
supply chain for an American crop which is catalyzed by the cannabinoid
market. At this time we are asking you, respectfully but firmly: Do not
criminalize our harvest. Protect our farms. Keep Kentucky’s hemp market
legal, safe, and effective. Let us prove once again that Kentucky
leadership is the answer to bad actors and unsafe products by enforcing and
enriching the robust regulations that have set Kentucky apart and ahead of
all others.”

Jonathan Miller, general counsel at the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, told
Marijuana Moment on Wednesday that the organization is “grateful to these
hard working farmers for speaking truth to power.”

“The current language would wipe out hemp cannabinoid farming in Kentucky,
which encompasses 87 percent of all hemp grown in the state,” he said. “We
are very hopeful that Senator McConnell will listen to these farmers—who
are relying on the language he inserted in the 2018 Farm Bill for their
livelihoods.”

Paul, for his part, recently cautioned that the cannabis policy movement
has “swung hard on the prohibitionist side” amid the ongoing debate over
intoxicating hemp products. And he worries that, if things go awry, the
hemp market could be decimated “within the next two weeks.”

Asked about recent conversations with McConnell and Rep. Andy Harris
(R-MD), a prohibitionist championing a hemp ban on the House side, Paul
said “we’ve been working diligently” with the staff “trying to reach a
compromise.”

“A lot of the conversations have been constructive. They say, at least on
the surface, they’re not trying to eliminate it—but I think we are, in some
ways, talking past each other,” he said.

Meanwhile, Paul recently filed a standalone bill that would go in the
opposite direction of the hemp ban, proposing to triple the concentration
of THC that the crop could legally contain, while addressing multiple other
concerns the industry has expressed about federal regulations.

The senator introduced the legislation, titled the Hemp Economic
Mobilization Plan (HEMP) Act, in June. It mirrors versions he’s sponsored
over the last several sessions.

Harris, who championed the hemp THC ban in his chamber version of the
agriculture spending legislation, told Marijuana Moment that he wasn’t
concerned about any potential opposition to the hemp ban in the Senate—and
he also disputed reports about the scope of what his legislation would do
to the industry.

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) released a report in June stating
that the legislation would “effectively” prohibit hemp-derived cannabinoid
products. Initially it said that such a ban would prevent the sale of CBD
as well, but the CRS report was updated to exclude that language for
reasons that are unclear.

The hemp language is largely consistent with appropriations and agriculture
legislation that was introduced, but not ultimately enacted, under the last
Congress.

Hemp industry stakeholders rallied against that proposal, an earlier
version of which was also included in the base bill from the subcommittee
last year. It’s virtually identical to a provision of the 2024 Farm Bill
that was attached by a separate committee last May via an amendment from
Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL), which was also not enacted into law.


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A leading alcohol industry association, meanwhile, has called on Congress
to dial back language in the House spending bill that would ban most
consumable hemp products, instead proposing to maintain the legalization of
naturally derived cannabinoids from the crop and only prohibit synthetic
items.

Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) President and CEO Francis
Creighton said in a press release that “proponents and opponents alike have
agreed that this language amounts to a ban.”

Separately, key GOP congressional lawmakers—including one member who
supports marijuana legalization—don’t seem especially concerned about
provisions in the bill despite concern from stakeholders that it would put
much of the hemp industry in jeopardy by banning most consumable products derived
from the plant.

A report from Bloomberg Intelligence (BI) last year called cannabis a
“significant threat” to the alcohol industry, citing survey data that
suggests more people are using cannabis as a substitute for alcoholic
beverages such a beer and wine.

Last November, meanwhile, a beer industry trade group put out a statement
of guiding principles to address what it called “the proliferation of
largely unregulated intoxicating hemp and cannabis products,” warning of
risks to consumers and communities resulting from THC consumption.

*Read the hemp farmers’ full letter to McConnell below:*



The post Farmers Tell Mitch McConnell His Push To Ban Hemp Products With
THC Will Cause ‘Catastrophic Consequences’ appeared first on Marijuana
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