SCOOP: Rep. Andy Harris and conservatives praise the White House for closing the toxic THC loophole
Rep. Andy Harris explains what's going on with the THC loophole.
Following years of debate on the issue, Congress moved last week to enact restrictions on intoxicating hemp-derived products, rejecting last-minute maneuvers from Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) and Rep. Thomas Massie (R., Ky.). President Donald Trump supports the measure, which ultimately passed with bipartisan support.
Late opposition came in the form of an amendment from Paul, which would have stripped the hemp language from the bill. It failed with 76 senators, including nearly every Republican, voting against it. Hill sources told the Washington Reporter that the vote reflects months of mounting concern about an unregulated market selling products that can get kids high and cause major health risks.
House Freedom Caucus Chair Rep. Andy Harris (R., Md.), who helped lead the effort in the House, praised the final bill.
“Passage of the Agriculture Appropriations bill closes the hemp loophole that has resulted in the spread of unregulated intoxicating hemp-derived products that are being sold online and in gas stations and corner stores across the country,” Harris told the Reporter. “Many of these products are accessible and attractive to children, resulting in thousands of calls to U.S. poison control centers, with more than 30 percent involving children age five years and younger. The provision is supported by 39 State Attorneys General and over 81 national and state public health, medical, law enforcement, and other organizations.”
Appropriations Committees in both chambers passed similar bills this summer, with the House Appropriations Committee stating that the hemp loophole “has resulted in the proliferation of unregulated intoxicating hemp products, including Delta-8 and hemp flower, being sold online and in gas stations across the country.”
Intoxicating hemp products proliferated after Congress legalized hemp in the 2018 Farm Bill. The law was widely understood as a win for farmers growing hemp for rope, clothing, and other benign uses. But manufacturers quickly exploited the statute to synthesize intoxicating compounds such as Delta-8 THC and sell them online, at gas stations, and in corner stores with virtually no regulatory guardrails. A Senate source told the Reporter that “I can’t believe gas stations can sell this poison. Kids can buy it. What a disaster. Thank God Congress fixed this glitch.”
Public polling from McLaughlin & Associates suggests voters agree with the push for tighter controls. Large majorities support restrictions on child access and marketing, including87 percent supporting child-proof packaging, 86 percent supporting a 21+ age limit, 81 percent supporting restrictions on marketing to children, and 71 percent saying hemp products should not contain “unnatural psychoactive substances.”
FDA data also challenges talking points from hemp industry advocates. The agency notes that such products have never been evaluated or approved for safe use, that hospital visits by minors have spiked, and that adverse reactions — including hallucinations, vomiting, tremors, and loss of consciousness — are widely reported. And because most states lack age verification rules, minors can often purchase intoxicating hemp products easily in retail stores or online.
That stance put Trump at odds with Paul and Massie, two of the loudest voices opposing restrictions on intoxicating hemp.
The legislation contains a one-year delay before it is implemented, a delay some hemp advocates speculated was to allow time for additional legislation to be passed on this issue next year.
But Harris confirmed to the Reporter that “there was no discussion whatsoever during negotiations of delaying implementation for the purposes of giving producers of intoxicating THC hemp products time to repeal or weaken the standard.”
Rather, the delay is intended to allow time for farmers to make planting decisions and for CBD oil producers to reformulate products, if necessary, to be under the 0.4mg THC limit included in the legislation.