NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Tennessee lawmakers want to roll out more regulations on the hemp industry, renewing the push to essentially ban THCA, a hemp-derived cannabinoid, after the hemp industry sued the state last Dec. to block rules created by the TN Dept. of Agriculture from going into effect.
House Majority Leader, Rep. William Lamberth (R-Portland) sponsored a bill that would require the Alcoholic Beverage Commission (ABC) and other state departments to regulate the manufacturing, supplying, wholesale distribution, and retail sale of hemp in TN. In addition to licensing, packaging, and testing requirements, the bill would also create penalties for those who don’t comply.
However, hemp industry experts testified against the bill in the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee Tuesday because the proposed legislation would ban hemp products containing more than 0.1% THCA, which when burned, turns into THC, and makes the user high.
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The hemp industry sued the state over a similar rule set to go into effect last Dec. which would have banned hemp products containing more than 0.3% THCA when burned. Business owners and hemp growers claimed the rule would have essentially banned all hemp flower in the state, which accounts for more than 70% of their sales.
“We were all for the packaging rules, all for over 21, all for literally everything in the bill except for the THCA,” Michael Soloman, a hemp business owner said.
On Tuesday, stakeholders returned to push back against the new, proposed THCA regulation which they argued is even stricter than the federal THCA standard of 0.3%.
“This bill as written will eliminate hemp agriculture in Tennessee,” John Kerns, co-founder of New Bloom Labs testified. “This bill calls for a new, unheard of legal standard for THCA concentration that of 0.1%, and it will put an end to hemp cultivation in this state.”
Devin Aracena, owner of CANVAST Supply Co. told lawmakers the bill would also have unintended consequences.
“This new law proposed as it is with the 0.1%, it wouldn’t just affect THCA, it would affect CBD, CBG, and fiber, something people aren’t consuming to have a feeling from,” Aracena said.
However, Lamberth told hemp stakeholders he had to file the new bill to regulate hemp in TN because those in the industry sued the state over the other rules, which are still tied up in court and have yet to go into effect.
“[The industry] is the wild west out there, you do not know what you’re buying, and that is a problem,” Lamberth said. “If you buy a Sprite, you get a Sprite, you buy a beer, you get a beer, you buy wine, it’s wine, buy liquor, it’s liquor. You know what you’re getting when you’re purchasing those products with alcohol in them. I want to make sure folks know what they’re getting when they buy hemp.”
When hemp industry experts criticized the bill’s measure to ban hemp products containing more than 0.1% THCA, Lamberth cited a Dept. of Justice memo that called THCA a “controlled substance” and “marijuana,” which is illegal in TN.
“Surely you would agree that if it is heated, even a little bit, in essence, it turns into Delta 9 THC,” Leader Lamberth asked Solomon during his testimony.
“Correct, just like grapes, if you store them improperly they turn into wine, but you can still buy grapes in the state of Tennessee,” Solomon responded.
“And just like grapes turned into wine, we have regulations on that,” Lamberth said. “You would agree it needs to be regulated, correct?”
“Yes sir. Once it turns into wine would be like once it turns into Delta 9, so you’d want to regulate that but not the grape; not the THCA.”
The bill passed both the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee and the Senate State and Local Government Committee Tuesday.
A Nashville judge is expected to make a ruling on the other rules in June.
