Schumer, Booker And Wyden Receive Request To Advance Legal Protections To All Hemp Cannabinoids In CAOA

The U.S. Hemp Roundtable sent a letter Friday to Senators Chuck Schumer, Ron Wyden and Cory Booker, who are the leading sponsors of a recently presented, but long-awaited comprehensive cannabis legalization bill - Cannabis Administration Opportunity Act (CAOA). While the non-profit advocacy organization praised the bill’s introduction it has also suggested several changes to provisions within the measure that could negatively affect the hemp industry. 

The Roundtable’s general counsel, Jonathan Miller offered two crucial suggestions: 

1. Re-Defining Hemp 

The language in the bill states that the permissible amount of THC for products made or derived from hemp can’t exceed 1 milligram of total THC per 100 grams on a dry weight basis, or in other words, created 0.001% total THC standard. Which is “an arbitrary and unrealistic” standard, according to the organization. 

Under the bill, most broad-spectrum hemp extracts wouldn’t qualify in addition to CBD isolates having trouble complying. “Indeed, this limit would delegate most, if not all, popular, non-intoxicating CBD and hemp extract products to the adult-use cannabis market,” Miller stated. 

The proposed THC limit would knock a booming industry, and additionally, limit possibilities for hemp farms that are already dealing with a lot of challenges. Miller further highlighted that the organization is not familiar with any scientific data that confirms that 1mg THC/100g is an appropriate limit for hemp products. 

2. Regulating CBD

The proposed regulations to include the sale of hemp-derived CBD as a dietary supplement are “unequally onerous.” 

The organization proposed the following changes: broadening protections to all non-intoxicating hemp derivatives and cannabinoids, instead of CBD only; enabling companies to use all standard methods of safety evaluations allowed by law, rather than requiring a new dietary ingredient notification (NDINs); and, creating an extra pathway for the sale of hemp extract like CBD as food and beverage ingredients. 

Most of the things in the new letter are repeating the same comments the U.S. Hemp Roundtable made to the bill’s draft last year. 

Photo Benzinga Edit: Peter Pike by Pixabay and Wikimedia Commons