WASHINGTON — A ban on popular hemp-derived cannabinoid products won’t take effect next month thanks to a bill Congress passed Tuesday.
The House of Representatives approved the delay Tuesday as part of a must-pass government funding bill to avert a government shutdown at the end of the month. The Senate passed the bill in August, so it’s now heading to President Donald Trump’s desk.
Congress put the ban in place last year at the urging of law enforcement officials from across the country who warned about kids buying dangerous fake weed products from gas stations and convenience stores. But lawmakers delayed the ban for a year, and now they’ve pushed back its effective date by 30 days, to Dec. 11.
Republicans added the hemp ban delay to the government funding bill at the urging of the White House. Trump has talked about medical marijuana’s usefulness for seniors and veterans coping with chronic pain, and in April he said Congress should delay the pending hemp-derived THC ban “to ensure that Americans can continue to access the full-spectrum CBD [cannabidiol] products they have come to rely on, and that help them.”
White House spokesman Kush Desai said the administration’s pro-hemp position had nothing to do with a family member of White House chief of staff Susie Wiles being involved in the industry, which raised conflict-of-interest concerns among some lawmakers.
“The only interest guiding the Trump administration’s decision-making is the best interest of the American people, and the Administration continues to explore a Gold Science Standard-based framework on hemp to expand treatment options for American veterans and patients,” Desai said in an emailed statement.
Some Republicans are furious about the delay and worried the industry will find a way to prevent the ban from ever taking effect.
“This is all about allowing gas station weed to continue to be available to our children and poisoning them,” Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), one of the biggest marijuana haters in Congress, told JS. “I get it. They’re making billions of dollars on it.”
Asked about it being the White House’s position, Harris said, “I don’t care where it came from. It’s bad policy.”
The hemp industry has flourished since 2018, when Congress passed a law legalizing hemp, leading entrepreneurs to develop a range of intoxicating hemp-derived products ― a development lawmakers didn’t see coming. Hemp-derived THC is now a $28 billion industry supporting more than 328,000 jobs, according to the U.S. Hemp Roundtable.
Chris Lackner, president of the Hemp Beverage Alliance, said the delay will buy time for lawmakers to come up with friendlier restrictions on the industry instead of a full ban. He said the industry supports rules against “bad actors” who sell THC products that look like candy to children.
“That is a crucial month and a lot can happen in that time. We do feel like there is an opportunity here,” Lackner told JS. “I think what we all want to see is a regulatory framework that works for everyone, protecting public health and allowing the hemp beverage category to thrive.”