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OK. The bill that President Trump signed to end the shutdown also changes the rules for Americans who grow and sell hemp. A lot of hemp comes from Kentucky, where one of the U.S. senators celebrated this change, while the other says it will destroy the industry. Joe Sonka with Kentucky Public Radio has the facts.
JOE SONKA, BYLINE: A 2018 farm bill allowed hemp to be grown to make CBD products that include the nonpsychoactive component of cannabis often used to help with pain, anxiety and sleep. Some in the industry used that hemp to also create a synthetic product like delta-8 with a higher concentration of THC, mimicking marijuana. That's a loophole, says Senator Mitch McConnell, who used the new spending bill to fix it.
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MITCH MCCONNELL: It will keep these dangerous products out of the hands of children, while preserving the hemp industry for farmers.
SONKA: But his fellow Kentucky Senator Rand Paul blasted the provision, saying McConnell's loophole fix went too far and would actually eradicate the booming market of hemp products. Think gummies, candies, oils and drinks.
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RAND PAUL: This is the most thoughtless, ignorant proposal to an industry that I've seen in a long, long time.
SONKA: In the end, McConnell won out, and the bill now bans the sale of hemp-derived products with more than 0.4 milligrams of THC per container. That's way too low, says Jim Higdon. He owns Cornbread Hemp, a growing Kentucky company with 100 employees.
JIM HIGDON: That will make illegal all hemp products in America, including nonintoxicating CBD products will become illegal, will become Schedule 1 controlled narcotics.
SONKA: That's because, he says, even nonintoxicating CBD products contain a small amount of THC. The U.S. Hemp Roundtable advocacy group says the new law will wipe out 95% of America's $28 billion hemp industry, costing more than 300,000 jobs. Hemp is different from marijuana, and the ban does not affect that industry. Some conservatives have praised the loophole fix, including Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick. He posted on social media, quote, "I believe this ban will save a generation from getting hooked on dangerous drugs." For his part, Higdon says the ban is an existential threat to his business. But it also won't go into effect until a year from now.
HIGDON: We can pass legislation in this year to get the guardrails that we need to keep hemp products legal in America with an appropriate THC cap per serving.
SONKA: He remains hopeful that Congress will help him stay in business beyond next year.
For NPR News, I'm Joe Sonka in Louisville, Kentucky.
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