So much breaking policy news this week!
Figured you all might like to take a look at the Farm Bill summary that was released by the House/Senate today.
You can read the summary here.
What do you think?
Going to DC in less than 2 weeks! Is this covering what you care about?
How does it define hemp?
That’s what I thought too.
Please keep up the good work.
Ya they are gonna reschedule it hand it to pharma make everyone cgmp and shut down the hemp loophole.
Please explain to them how this would put billions of dollars back into the hands of drug dealers instead of local taxes and charity.
Sec. 2203. Farmable Wetland Program
• Permanently authorizes the Farmable Wetland Program
I have a little one-pager that talks about the difference between traditional market and licensed market. Not sure the traditional market isn’t interested in local investment and charities - that seems like a bit of a wild stereotype. Some of the traditional market folks I have worked with are doing more for their communities than any licensed operators I have seen…
But I digress. The biggest Con of the traditional market has to do with traceability in case something goes wrong. Not being able to do a recall if there is a salmonella outbreak for instance. Or pesticide residue causes illness. Or some other adverse event which needs the operator to change behavior AND notify consumers to prevent harm.
And the second Con has to do with limited safety measures for workers, consumers and environment. Specific to things like chemical exposures, stealing water from local residents/parks, and things like that. Plus inaccurate labeling which can cause harm to some consumers. Truth in labeling is important to me as a consumer, I assume other consumers also care, and that there should be a level playing field with a minimum amount of info (like ingredients) that is provided.
Are you thinking that hemp producers are currently paying a lot of taxes that they would no longer be paying? Or you are thinking that it will be completely different producers in the licensed market skimming off the top and sending to states without programs? Or you are thinking that there won’t be enough pharma bros out there to meet demand on a medical level?
Or all of the above and something more? I think this is an important point - and if you think the items I have listed are not the ones that are important, I’d love to know so I can add more to the one-pager. 
All of the above. Also, It’s the supply and demand I’ve been talking about. If there is a supply vacuum something or someone WILL fill it. In 26 states that are not legal people who were buying hemp products will have to go to the black market, taking away the sales tax, probably thousands of jobs, and yes, the ability for those businesses and employees to contribute passionately via their life’s work to the communities they exist in.
Didn’t mean that others don’t care about charity. Just this bill brings overall less success to the smaller guys, and small businesses are the backbone of this country. Less small businesses, less tax, less jobs less positive outcomes. So many people will lose their jobs.
Not to mention enforcing this. You are going to create scary police interactions because people aren’t going to shut down their businesses they’ve run for half a decade. Did they gray market in Cali shut down when laws were passed? Or was it an unnecessary game of whack a mole that resulted in injury, death, and destruction? I don’t think the millions of gas stations are going to comply. I don’t think the thousands of vape shops will either. If they could enforce this they already would be. Passing a law and TRYING to enforce this is just going to lead to more people in handcuffs and more tension with Law Enforcement. It isn’t fair to ask the local police to go handle this shit when it’s been 5 years of this in their community without issues.
What other $8 billion industry have they shut down overnight and how do they think that are possibly going to execute on this without negative consequences or being sued all the way to the Supreme Court?
As a grain and fiber producer I’m pleased that they mentioned this. We have been advocating for lower barriers to entry, performance based sampling and more.
As a cannabinoid producer, I think less is more. The way it’s structured now on paper is about as good as we’ll ever have or had it.
There’s so many hands in the pot with the farm bill. It’s hard to please enough people in one way to make a significant difference and still be bipartisan.
Thank you @Cassin for advocating on our behalf! I’m about to jump on office hours zoom for the NIFA grain and fiber research project I’m working on. You can be sure we are discussing this today!!
Okay all - the summary was solid. Nothing too scary here, IMO.
Read the new Farm Bill Draft yourself here.
TLDR:
I kind of like this approach in terms of a middle ground.
With MJ being pushed to a schedule 3 its kinda hard for them to do anything about hemp. Itll basically be up to the states to regulate hemp derived cannabinoids as the DEA would need to schedule any substance (like d8) to control it. Itll be nice to have the Analogue Act not effect either of them anymore too ( AA only applies to schedule 1 and 2s and with MJ going to schedule 3 it cant be used anymore against hemp or MJ)
I realize that their lack of enforcement action makes it seem like they have no options and that these things are legal. But they are already illegal (regardless of schedule) under the FD&C.
I’m hopeful that they won’t start coming down on people more than have been - however, the number of warning letters has already increased. And with congress defining cannabinoids more - one might expect the FDA to start doing its job in a different way (that’s what happened with dietary supplements back in the day you know?)
Also - D8 (and D10…and many others) are already in the schedule. They would be rescheduled as well. Which doesn’t make them legal - it just means that they have a medical usage and are not habit forming. They would still need to be handled by the FDA under the FD&C - meaning an IND + NDA to get into pharmacies and any interstate sale of them (well any sale actually but who’s really counting???) would still be a federal crime under drug trafficking.
They are not enforcing this in many places. But over 100,000 people went to prison last year for cannabis. I don’t see that changing with these changes. States will do what they do and the FEDS will keep coming down on some people, especially those in states without legal programs.
Also - the schedule change doesn’t mention anything about removing synthetics from the schedule (did you see that somewhere???) looks like a small carve out. I couldn’t even be sure that hashish wasn’t included from my review.
So don’t count those chickens until the eggs hatch. You might be okay with doing whatever you feel like doing regardless of what the FDA has to say about it. But that doesn’t mean everyone is. And right now they are not enforcing - but the OMB will talk about increases in funding, and they already got an increase last year.
More money means more enforcement. And if kids keep going to hospitals and getting high in school more parents are going to complain and be dicks until they start enforcing.
Blarg. I just got back from DC and I’m feeling all kinds of fabulous - and also, not nearly as optimistic as you seem to be in your post. <3
D8 itself isnt scheduled synthetic thcs and MJ are, which hemp derived d8 falls into neither category.
D8 or d10 has never been through the scheduling processes itself which is what has to be done to schedule any drug. The DEA tried this with hemp seeds and got there asses handed to them.
Synthetics cannabinoids themselves arent scheduled. Synthetic cbd is legal along with any other cannabinoid whos natural counter part isnt scheduled. Synthetic thcs are scheduled but thats pretty much the only synthetic naturally occuring cannabinoid that is. Synthetic hhc isnt even scheduled.
Maybe we are talking about different substances? These are definitely scheduled. And they add more like every year. They added like 6 more just last year, you know?
And even if they were just similar to THC - they would still be scheduled biosimilars - which would still be drugs and still need FDA approval.
I understand you don’t give a fuck about the FDA’s rules. And that’s okay. But there are plenty of people that do give a fuck about them.
Also - why are you referencing a court case that has other cases setting precedence now, since the Farm Bill changes and all those court cases? The final rule changed that court case in 2020 and 2021 - and additional cases have happened since then. Including one that may or may not be going before the Supreme Court in the not to distant future, since more than one appellate court are disagreeing on the statutes you are pointing to and prior cases.
And that original rule would only apply to naturally occurring D8 (as written…) and not to synthetics, which continue to be illegal and not allowed by the FDA or the DEA.
even if they chose not to enforce the laws - doesn’t mean the laws do not exist
The same way I have to sign all these damn documents every year saying I’m a drug trafficker to be a licensed state operator. Just because I’m doing the work. And just because the state is sanctioning it. Doesn’t mean that I’m not breaking the law - it just means they are choosing not to enforce the law.
Same thing goes for all those people putting hemp/cannabis derived stuff into beverages and food and cosmetics and dietary supplements. All those things are illegal under the FDA’s rules. But no one seems to care because the FDA isn’t enforcing very strongly (although they are enforcing with warning letters and seizures of material). That doesn’t count for vapes since they don’t seem to be part of the FD&C… which is actually a wonderful loophole of fabulousness. But the states are cracking down on all that stuff - cause they don’t like kids getting high for some reason.
Such is life.
I’d be fine with no interstate commerce. I just want to be able to do my business locally and provide jobs for the team I already have. Everyone can make a healthy living supporting a local market. I hope consumers actively choose this. I keep relating it to prohibition ending. There will be large companies approved by the FDA, and ones that are not won’t seriously compete, but I’m hoping this bill at least gives a chance at a micro market proliferating locally.
This is the group that popularized jwh blends as “k2”
SLOAN-K2-Indictment.pdf (228.9 KB)
