Illinois Will Revisit Hemp Regulation Debate Amid New Federal Ban On THC Products, Governor Says

*“We’re going to have to look at how we might regulate” hemp “now that we
see that the federal government is limiting it.”*

*By Brenden Moore, Capital News Illinois*

Tucked into the spending legislation approved by Congress this week was a
provision banning the sale of intoxicating hemp products—a move that could
upend an industry with annual sales now into the billions.

Hemp was federally legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill, which defined it as
a plant with less than 0.3 percent delta-9 THC. But the law didn’t account
for total THC or other cannabinoids, creating a loophole that allowed
companies to use compounds like delta-8 to make products with
marijuana-like intoxicating effects. As a result, hemp-derived intoxicants
have proliferated in gas stations, corner stores and other places with
little to no regulation.

An amendment seeking to remove the language from the larger bill, proposed
by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, was rejected in a 76-24 vote. Sens. Dick
Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) voted with the majority.

Durbin said the hemp language was proposed by Sen. Mitch McConnell,
R-Kentucky.

“Throughout my career, I’ve tried my best to protect children,” Durbin
said. “He asked for further regulation of the industry to make sure their
products being sold at service stations and such weren’t dangerous to kids.
That’s not too much to ask. I supported his position.”

Though he opposed the bill on the whole, the hemp provision hands Illinois
Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) an indirect political win. The governor earlier this
year pushed in vain for legislation that would have limited the sale of
delta-8 and other hemp-derived intoxicants to state-licensed cannabis
dispensaries. But House Speaker Chris Welch, D-Hillside, did not call it
for a vote, claiming it did not have the support of 60 House Democrats.

“In the absence of action in Springfield, Governor Pritzker supports
policies to protect people, including children, from being misinformed or
harmed by these products,” a Pritzker spokesperson said.

Pritzker further told reporters after an unrelated event in Chicago on
Thursday that “we’re going to have to look at how we might regulate” hemp
“now that we see that the federal government is limiting it.”

“The goal here is to keep our children safe,” Pritzker said. “That really
is my number one goal about regulating intoxicating hemp—and when it’s
available everywhere, and it’s got names like Skittlez with a ‘Z’ on the
end, and it looks the same as Skittles the candy, it’s just not right.”

*This article first appeared on Capitol News Illinois and is republished
here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
License.*

*Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that
distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets
statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the
Robert R. McCormick Foundation.*

*Unrelated content excised by Marijuana Moment.*

*Photo courtesy of Max Jackson.*

The post Illinois Will Revisit Hemp Regulation Debate Amid New Federal Ban
On THC Products, Governor Says appeared first on Marijuana Moment.