NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A proposal to regulate hemp products like gummies and flower in Tennessee just took another step forward, but it’s changing.
“In this bill, as amended, these products will not be sold in a convenience store or grocery store,” Representative William Lamberth (R/Portland) said. “I personally do not want to see in my community, weed being sold next to the eggs and the milk.”
Since its first reading in February, this bill has quickly moved through the Senate and House.
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The bill also includes a couple of other new rules for the hemp industry, including the banning of synthetic hemp and a ban on advertising hemp products as cures or treatments for any human illness. It would also make it illegal to ship directly to the consumer.
The Alcoholic Beverage Commission (ABC) would take over state enforcement for retailers and wholesale. “Those are the folks who already regulate intoxicating liquors, intoxicating substances,” Lamberth explained.
Supporters of the bill say new labeling requirements will help law enforcement recognize legal versus illegal hemp products.
This comes one year after a one-million-dollar lawsuit was filed in Spring Hill after officers seized legal hemp products.
“It seemed like they thought they happened upon a ton of marijuana,” said SAK Wholesale and Old School Vapor CEO Sam Oechslin.
A Franklin hemp business owner told News 2 this would hurt Tennessee’s economy.
“Targeting that only impacts us with our family business and shops, but consumers are the ones losing in this and the farmers, the agricultural industry has been decimated in this state for hemp,” Owner and Operator of Green Daisy in Franklin, Rodney Croteau, said. “Even over the last four or five years, they have made it very, very difficult for farmers in Tennessee to grow this flower legally.”
The ultimate decision could also hurt his business.
“Everything you see behind me is primarily THCA flower,” Croteau explained. “Flower is primarily the source of THCA and is a significant portion of our revenue.”
“We know we are doing the right thing for the right reasons, and we think it will work out,” Croteau continued. “But yeah, we lose sleep every night. Our entire lives are invested in this business, and we are watching it slowly get eroded and washed away.”
If it passes, this act will take effect on the first of January next year.
