GOP Lawmaker Urges Hemp THC Fix In Filibuster-Proof Reconciliation Bill After Midterms

A Republican congressman is raising the possibility that provisions to reverse the planned federal recriminalization of hemp THC products could be included in a broader budget reconciliation bill during the lame-duck session of Congress following next week’s midterm elections.

“I think we need to get my THC regulatory bill passed, and if we could get that into a reconciliation bill before the 11th of December, that’d be fabulous,” Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA) told Roll Call on Monday, referring to the current date by which hemp THC products are set to become federally illegal again.

The HEMP Act

Earlier this year, Griffith and Rep. Marc Veasey (D-TX) filed the Hemp Enforcement, Modernization, and Protection (HEMP) Act, which would keep hemp products legal and enact new regulations on the market.

The GOP lawmaker also told Roll Call that he thought provisions of his legislation could be “combined with a measure related to taxes on hemp-derived products,” such as a beverage-focused bill from Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-TX) that would keep hemp THC drinks legal while taxing and regulating them like alcohol.

Background on the Hemp THC Deadline

Hemp derivatives with less than 0.3 percent delta-9 THC on a dry-weight basis were federally legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill that President Donald Trump signed during his first term in office.

But late last year, the president signed new legislation containing provisions that redefined hemp to make it so only products with 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container would remain legal after November 12.

Now, however, under provisions included in a funding bill Trump signed last month, the effective date of the ban for most products is being pushed back to December 11 to give lawmakers more time to craft regulations for hemp derivatives.