GOP Congressman Circulates Draft Bill To Regulate Hemp Products As Colleagues Pursue THC Ban

A Republican congressman is circulating a draft bill to regulate consumable hemp products—offering a potential alternative to the outright THC ban that some of his colleagues are pushing.

The draft legislation from Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA) would affirmatively allow the sale of consumable hemp products to adults 21 and older. That includes edibles, beverages and inhalable items.

There would be various regulatory restrictions for the market, according to a summary from the Hemp Beverage Alliance, which is collecting stakeholder feedback on the proposal.

For example, packaging couldn’t appeal to youth and would need to be tamper-proof. It would also need to list all cannabinoids present and include QR code linking to a certificate of analysis.

Hemp product makers would be prohibited from adding substances like alcohol, caffeine, tobacco, nicotine, melatonin or others “with effects that could interact with cannabinoids or enhance or alter their effects.”

There would also be manufacturing and testing requirements, and hemp businesses would need to register their facilities.

Additionally, there are provisions mandating the establishment of a total cannabinoid cap on hemp products. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) would be charged with proposing cannabinoid limits within 60 days of enactment.

If those rules aren’t implemented within three years of enactment, these default thresholds would be set:

• Oral hemp products with non-intoxicating cannabinoids: Up to 10mg/serving and 50mg/package.
• Inhalable products: Up to 100mg/serving and 500mg/package.
• Topical products: Up to 100mg/serving and 500mg/package.
• Intoxicating cannabinoid products (e.g. items containing THC): Up to 0.2mg/serving and 1mg/package.

That limit on intoxicating cannabinoids is likely to get industry pushback, as previewed by Adam Terry, CEO of the hemp beverage company Cantrip, who said the THC cap is “currently set low enough to be an effective ban.”

He added, however, that he is “very encouraged to see a Republican House Member, particularly a Freedom Caucus member, post a regulatory bill for hemp, even if it’s not exactly what I want today.”

Under the draft bill, HHS would also be tasked with creating and maintaining a list of known cannabinoids, which would have to be published within one year of enactment.

The measure would also amend the Food Drug & Cosmetic Act (FDCA) to create a new chapter for cannabinoid hemp products, and a new Cannabinoid Hemp Products Advisory Committee would be established.

The Hemp Beverage Alliance said Griffith’s office is “still gathering input and feedback,” and the organization will be “gathering and compiling comments over the next several weeks” to help inform a final version.

“We are thrilled to see positive regulatory language coming out of DC and forward to continuing to work with Rep. Griffith’s office to further develop this legislation,” the alliance said.

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

While the proposed intoxicating cannabinoid limit is expected to be one of the more hotly contested provisions, the bill itself represents a welcome alternative for the industry to legislation that has advanced in the House to ban all consumable hemp products containing any “quantifiable” amount of THC. Stakeholders say that would effectively wipe out the market that has evolved since hemp was federally legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said earlier this month that he has plans to meet with House lawmakers to “reach a compromise” on an approach to regulate hemp in light of his opposition to the THC ban proposal.

While Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has contested the idea that legislation he sponsored in his chamber would “completely destroy” the market, as Paul and industry stakeholders have insisted, he ultimately agreed to pull the language from the agriculture bill following a procedural protest from Paul. The Senate passed the underlying legislation this month.

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.

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Hemp industry stakeholders have rallied against the hemp THC ban legislation, 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.

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.

Jonathan Miller, general counsel at 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.

Separately, a Democratic senator recently touted the inclusion of hemp research provisions she secured as part of the Senate-passed agriculture spending bill, calling the cannabis plant “one of the oldest and most versatile crops in agriculture.”

Read the text of Griffith’s discussion draft hemp bill below: 

Photo courtesy of Brendan Cleak.