Mike Simpson, co-founder of Lovewell Farms, wrote to Rhode Island Current to challenge Attorney General candidates on hemp regulation. Simpson stated, “Rhode Island has already chosen to regulate hemp rather than prohibit it.” He added that the next attorney general should explain whether they intend to defend that decision. Lovewell Farms is Rhode Island’s only USDA-certified organic hemp farm, founded in 2018.
Simpson brings nearly 20 years of experience in cannabis and drug policy to this critique.
In October, Attorney General Peter Neronha joined 38 other state attorneys general in signing a letter urging Congress to change the federal definition of hemp. The letter described a national market where products are sold “without consistent age restrictions, labeling standards, or safety requirements.” Simpson argued this description does not accurately reflect Rhode Island’s regulated industry. State-licensed businesses in Rhode Island face the same testing, potency, labeling, packaging, and age restriction requirements as the medicinal cannabis program.
On August 4, Neronha signed another multistate letter urging Congress to reject any effort to “delay, repeal, suspend, or weaken” hemp restrictions. The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation on Tuesday that would give farmers another month before the new definition takes effect. This provision is part of a short-term government funding bill that keeps the federal government funded through December 11.
The new federal definition excludes final hemp-derived cannabinoid products containing more than 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container.
Simpson noted that full-spectrum CBD products can contain more than 0.4 milligrams of THC per package while remaining non-intoxicating. These products are produced without chemical conversion and comply with state law. The August letter claims the new definition will not inhibit the cultivation of hemp.
However, the threshold threatens ordinary, naturally extracted, full-spectrum CBD products manufactured on farms like Lovewell Farms.
Neronha is term-limited, and Rhode Island will elect a new attorney general this year. The incoming official will inherit the authority to sign letters on the state’s behalf. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse opposed an amendment that would have removed the hemp provision from federal law.
Their offices stated they did so at the urging of the vast majority of state attorneys general.
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