Hemp ban awaits Senate returning from break

Hemp ban awaits Senators returning from break

When Congress returns from August recess next week, House Republicans looking to quickly pass stopgap funding legislation will need to navigate the same potential minefield on hemp that almost tripped up the Senate.

The funding bill contains a provision to delay a prohibition on most hemp-derived THC products by a month, until Dec. 11.

House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris (R-Md.) has been among the most vocal opponents of the provision. Harris hasn’t explicitly said he will vote against the continuing resolution, but he is vowing to fight it.

In a recent interview with a Baltimore-based Fox affiliate, Harris said the so-called “gas station weed” being sold in stores shouldn’t be considered hemp .

“They are not hemp, they are basically marijuana, they are completely unregulated… and it’s a failure of the federal government to adequately regulate it. And I’m trying to put an end to that,” Harris said.

Harris is chairman of the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee. He, alongside Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) were the key drivers of last year’s legislation that put the ban into law.

The language to delay it was inserted into the Senate’s legislation at the behest of the White House, which has made delaying or otherwise fixing the hemp ban a priority.

Hemp industry groups and their allies touted it as a significant win that will give them more time to convince lawmakers to regulate their products, rather than ban them.

Disagreements over the one-month delay snarled quick Senate passage of the funding bill earlier this month. Opponents tried to strip the provision but were ultimately unsuccessful.

Senators voted 61-32 to table an amendment from Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) that would have stripped the delay language and kept the original ban in place. The 32-vote bloc opposing the motion to table crossed party lines, with 21 Republicans and 11 Democrats.

But GOP senators indicated they will try again in the fall and winter to keep the ban in place . The funding bill lasts through Dec. 11, and White House officials have reportedly told senators they will not ask for another delay.

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