Senate Committee Voices Concern About ‘Misleading’ Cannabis Marketing And Promotes Psychedelics Research After Passing Hemp Ban

A new report from a key Senate committee expresses concerns about
“misleading” marketing of cannabis products and notes the need for revised
hemp rules, while also supporting continued research into the therapeutic
benefits of psychedelic medicines.

The report released on Thursday by the Senate Appropriations Committee is
attached to an annual spending bill containing provisions to federally ban
hemp products containing any “quantifiable” amount of THC. However,
bipartisan senators did agree to amend that language to delay
implementation for a year—unlike a separate House version that advanced in
that chamber last month.

While marijuana and psychedelics policy issues weren’t explicitly addressed
in the Senate legislation itself, the panel’s report does contain sections
that deal with those substances.

For example, it states that the committee is “concerned about the
proliferation of products marketed in violation of the Federal Food, Drug,
and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), including products containing derivatives of the
cannabis plant.”

“The Committee is aware that non-FFDCA compliant products pose potential
health and safety risks to consumers through misleading, unsubstantiated,
and false claims that cannabis and cannabis derivatives can treat serious
and life-threatening diseases and conditions, including COVID–19 and
cancer,” it says.

With respect to psychedelics policy, the committee noted “the increased
interest and need to study psychedelics, including MDMA, psilocybin,
ibogaine, and 5–MeO–DMT, and their potential therapeutic effects.”

“The Committee encourages the FDA to work with the [U.S. Department of
Veterans Affairs, Department of Defense and National Institutes of Health]
on leveraging clinical trials to improve our understanding of psychedelics
.The Committee also encourages the FDA and VA, DoD, and NIH to work
together in developing and supporting public-private collaborations to
advance psychedelic research for therapeutic purposes, with the FDA
maintaining its independent regulatory authority as an observer. The
Committee requests a report on such efforts within 180 days of enactment of
this act.”

On hemp—a contentious topic in Congress in recent months—the report also
said that members recognize “the growing consumer demand for American-made
hemp products following the expanded legalization of hemp under the
Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018.”

“As the industry continues to innovate and expand to meet consumer demand,
the Committee acknowledges the need for clear, science-based guidance to
ensure product safety, consumer confidence, and regulatory clarity,” it
says. “To support this effort, the Committee directs the FDA to solicit
information from and engage with industry stakeholders, including small
businesses, scientists, manufacturers, public health experts, academic
researchers, and other relevant parties in the hemp community on suggested
limits on the amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol or other cannabinoids in
hemp-derived cannabinoid products for the purposes of promulgating
regulations pursuant to authorities.”

“The Committee also encourages the FDA to seek out information from States
on actions taken to address consumer safety concerns like cannabinoid
limits and age restrictions,” the report states. “The FDA shall brief the
Committee within 60 days of enactment of this act on planned engagement and
requests for information.”

Another section discusses the committee’s desire to have the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) “improve data sharing and coordination between State
and Federal authorities, such as by continuing to support the FDA’s
Cannabinoid Hemp Product 20.88 Information Sharing Agreement initiative.”

Other hemp provisions of the report include one on hemp cultivar
development that urges the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to
“conduct biotechnology and genomics research in collaboration with capable
institutions to elucidate the genetic control of key production and product
quality traits in hemp to facilitate cultivar development.”

“In addition, the Committee provides no less than the fiscal year 2024
level for [the Agricultural Research Service] to partner with institutions
already engaged in such research to conduct hemp genetic improvement
research and breeding with new breeding and editing techniques,” it says.

The committee also addressed hemp germplam, stating that members recognize
“the increasing demand for hemp for a variety of uses and its growing
importance as a crop for U.S. farmers.”

“When the Nation’s hemp germplasm was destroyed in the 1980s, researchers
lost access to publicly available germplasm for plant breeding purposes,”
it said. “The Committee directs ARS to establish and maintain a hemp
germplasm repository at the Plant Genetics Resources Research Unit and
provides no less than the fiscal year 2024 level for this purpose.”

Yet another hemp-specific section also acknowledges the “emerging market
potential for U.S. hemp and hemp-based products for a variety of uses.”

“The Committee directs ARS to conduct regionally-driven research,
development, and stakeholder engagement to improve agronomic and
agro-economic understanding of effectively integrating hemp into existing
agricultural cropping, processing, and marketing systems. The Committee
provides no less than the fiscal year 2024 level for this purpose.
Research, engagement, and technology transfer shall be conducted in strict
accordance with all applicable Federal and State authorities and
regulations.”

Meanwhile, ahead of the Senate Appropriations Committee vote, several
sources told Marijuana Moment that Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who
championed hemp legalization through that 2018 legislation while serving as
majority leader, was behind the restrictive cannabis language, vying to
redefine his legacy by recriminalizing intoxicating cannabinoid products
such as delta-8 THC.

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) said at Thursday’s hearing that he appreciates
McConnell’s concerns but worries that the new prohibition would be
overbroad and impact even non-intoxicating products, saying the language
“addresses one very important issue, but causes another problem.”

While the House’s amended report language attached to its version of the
bill that clarifies it’s not the intent of the committee to stop people
from accessing “industrial or nonintoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoid
products with trace or insignificant amounts of THC,” the bill itself still
says that products containing any “quantifiable” amounts of THC couldn’t be
marketed. And it’s rare to find CBD items without any natural traces of THC.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), for his part, recently filed a bill that would go in
the opposite direction of Harris’s 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, last month. It mirrors versions he’s
sponsored over the last several sessions.

Hemp and its derivatives were legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill, but the
industry has experienced multiple setbacks in the years since—and the
proliferation of intoxicating cannabinoid products has led to pushes in
Congress and state legislatures across the country to reign in the largely
unregulated market.

Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD), for his part, told Marijuana Moment recently that he’s
not concerned about any potential opposition in the Senate—and he also
disputed reports about the scope of what his legislation would do to the
industry.

He also briefly weighed in on the Texas governor’s recent veto of a bill to
recriminalize hemp products with any THC—simply stating that he’s “not
paying attention to what a single state is doing” while he focuses on
enacting the proposed federal ban.

The language in the congressional bill, meanwhile, would still effectively
eliminate the most commonly marketed hemp products within the industry, as
even non-intoxicating CBD items that are sold across the country typically
contain trace amounts of THC. Under current law, those products are allowed
if they contain no more than 0.3 percent THC by dry weight.

The proposed policy championed by Harris would drastically change that. It
would instead maintain the legal status of “industrial hemp” under a
revised definition that allows for the cultivation and sale of hemp grown
for fiber, whole grain, oil, cake, nut, hull, microgreens or “other edible
hemp leaf products intended for human consumption.”

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) released a report last month
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.

There are some differences between the prior spending bill and this latest
version for 2026, including a redefining of what constitutes a
“quantifiable” amount of THC that’d be prohibited for hemp products.

It now says that a quantifiable amount is “based on substance, form,
manufacture, or article (as determined by the Secretary of Health and Human
Services in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture),” whereas it
was previously defined as an amount simply “determined by the Secretary in
consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services.”

The proposed legislation also now specifies that the term hemp does not
include “a drug that is the subject of an application approved under
subsection (c) or (j) of section 505 of the Federal Food, Drug, and
Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 355),” which seems to carve out an exception for
FDA-approved drugs such Epidiolex, which is synthesized from CBD.

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.”

“By pushing a rapidly evolving industry back into the shadows, Congress is
creating even more chaos in the marketplace, undermining state initiatives
and punishing responsible actors,” he said. “We urge the full House to
reconsider this approach. States can regulate intoxicating products safely
and effectively through systems that preserve consumer trust and public
safety. It’s time for Congress to follow their lead, not override their
authority.”

Members of WSWA also met with lawmakers and staffers in April to advocate
for three key policy priorities that the group says is based on “sound
principles of alcohol distribution.” They include banning synthetic THC,
setting up a federal system for testing and labeling products and
establishing state-level power to regulate retail sales.

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.


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Jonathan Miller, general counsel of the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, told
congressional lawmakers in April that the market is “begging” for federal
regulations around cannabis products.

At the hearing, Rep. James Comer (R-KY) also inquired about FDA inaction
around regulations, sarcastically asking if it’d require “a gazillion
bureaucrats that work from home” to regulate cannabinoids such as CBD.

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.

The post Senate Committee Voices Concern About ‘Misleading’ Cannabis
Marketing And Promotes Psychedelics Research After Passing Hemp Ban
appeared first on Marijuana Moment.