GOP Senator Pushes To Study—Rather Than Ban—Hemp Products, As State Attorneys General Call For THC Prohibition

As bicameral lawmakers work to reach a deal on provisions for federal
spending legislation, including how to settle an increasingly contentious
debate about hemp products, competing interests are making their voices
heard on how they think Congress should handle the issue.

To that end, a GOP senator is hoping to replace a proposed ban on hemp THC
products with alternate language mandating a study into state regulatory
models for consumable cannabinoids, while a group of state attorneys
general are taking steps to urge Republican leadership to move ahead with
an outright prohibition on intoxicating products.

While the House has not yet passed its version of the agriculture spending
bill, the Senate version was combined into a so-called minibus with
appropriations legislation that also covers defense and the legislative
branch. Last month, House leadership requested a conference committee and
appointed negotiators, despite not having advanced its own companion bill
through the chamber.

The Senate hasn’t appointed its conferees, and no formal meetings have
taken place so far, but it’s reported that appropriators have been
informally discussing relevant issues. And one GOP senator is angling to
get ahead of the negotiations around hemp.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)—a longstanding champion of cannabis reform who
previously blocked a hemp ban from being included in an agriculture
appropriations bill passed by the Senate earlier this year—is circulating
legislative language, obtained by Marijuana Moment, that he’s asking to be
adopted as part of the final package.

It would require the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to study “best
practices” for regulating intoxicating cannabinoid products and submit a
report on its findings to Congress.

*Here’s the full language: *

“SEC.____. STUDY ON HEMP BEST PRACTICES.

Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the
Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation with States, shall conduct, and
submit to Congress a report on the results of, a study on best practices of
States relating to regulation of hemp-derived products for home and
personal use.”

Marijuana Moment reached out to Paul’s office for comment, but a
representative was not immediately available.

🚨 BREAKING: @RandPaul is countering the McConnell-Harris HEMP BAN with a
new amendment.

We can save the hemp industry – but ONLY if Congress hears from YOU right
now!

Contact your reps: https://t.co/NvcFObM7Fg

🌿RT to spread the word

— Hemp Industry & Farmers of America (@hifa_health) October 23, 2025

The agriculture appropriations measure the Senate passed as part of a
package over the summer initially contained provisions hemp industry
stakeholders said would effectively eradicate the market by banning
consumable hemp products with any “quantifiable” amount of THC. But after
the measure came out of committee, Paul threatened to hold up its passage
over the issue, and the language was removed.

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who ushered in the federal legalization of
hemp under the 2018 Farm Bill, championed the THC criminalization language
and took to the floor to criticize those who opposed the ban, including Paul
.

McConnell isn’t the only one vying for a renewed prohibition. A group of
state attorneys general is circulating a draft letter addressed to GOP
leaders in the House and Senate Appropriations and Agriculture committees
that calls for the inclusion of the ban because, they say, the currently
Farm Bill “wrongly exploited by bad actors to sell recreational synthetic
THC products across the country.”


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The draft document omits the names of the signatories, but the content
cites data from Indiana—and the Republican state attorney general there,
Todd Rokita, previously led a separate letter with 20 of his counterparts
from other states urging Congress to take action on intoxicating
cannabinoid products.

“We ask that Congress clarify the federal definition of hemp during the
Fiscal Year 2026 appropriations process or through the reauthorization of
the Farm Bill to leave no doubt that these harmful products are illegal and
that their sale and manufacture are criminal acts,” the new draft letter,
obtained by Marijuana Moment, says.

Hemp industry stakeholders “have nefariously misinterpreted the Farm Bill’s
legalization of low concentrations of hemp-derived delta-9 and the Bill’s
silence regarding hemp-derived THC products other than delta-9 to claim
that the Farm Bill allows them to produce and sell various synthetic
cannabinoids regardless of the chemicals’ potency and psychoactive
effects,” it says. “In this way, legal, nonintoxicating hemp is used to
make Frankenstein THC products that get adults high and harm and even kill
children.”

“We commend your commitment to American farmers and your work to create an
orderly and well-regulated market for industrial hemp and non-intoxicating
hemp-derived products. You should not allow irresponsible corporations to
take advantage of your good work to purvey dangerous products in our
States. We ask Congress to act decisively to clarify the Farm Bill’s
definition of hemp to ensure intoxicating THC products are taken off the
market.”

Rokita’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from
Marijuana Moment.

The House agriculture spending bill, as approved by the Appropriations
Committee, included provisions banning consumable hemp products with any
“quantifiable” amount of THC, though it has not been taken up on the floor.

Hemp stakeholders are unsure where the issue will land as lawmakers attempt
to finalize appropriations legislation, but they’re calling on supporters
to contact their representatives and make their opposition to a blanket ban
clear.

“The truth is that no one really knows what any final draft would look
like, and it is equally uncertain as to whether a minibus itself will see
the light of day,” the U.S. Hemp Roundtable said in an email blast.

“If you have not yet alerted your customers, associates, friends and social
media contacts that the prospects of a hemp ban are real, NOW IS THE TIME,”
it says. “We have an opportunity to kill this, but we are running out of
time.”

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.

*Read the text of the state attorneys general draft letter on hemp below: *

*Photo courtesy of Brendan Cleak.*

The post GOP Senator Pushes To Study—Rather Than Ban—Hemp Products, As
State Attorneys General Call For THC Prohibition appeared first on Marijuana
Moment.