KIOWA, Colo. (KOAA) — Tucked into the federal funding bills to reopen the government last week were new provisions that will essentially destroy the hemp industry nationwide, according to industry insiders.
Kentucky Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell added in the seemingly unrelated hemp provision, capping. tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, limits and ends what was considered a loophole in the 2018 Farm Bill.
The so-called loophole allowed hemp growers and sellers to create intoxicating THC beverages, vapes, and edibles like gummies, among many other products.
Industry professionals said the new THC cap at .4 milligrams per package will essentially wipe out the legalized hemp business, which has exploded in growth since the 2018 Farm Bill. Some estimates have said it’s worth tens of billions of dollars.
“There's gonna be up to about a half a million jobs are gonna be lost, and there's going to be billions upon billions of dollars of revenue that's not gonna be realized by the nation. Not just the state of Colorado, but just the whole nation,” said Chuck Winters, CEO of C and C Services, which works in hemp and biomass distribution around the county.
Winters said he agrees the industry needed better regulations and many products were being marketed and sold to entice children, but an outright ban would have devastating economic consequences.
“You take a major sector of jobs or industry away, it's a double whammy. So you got all these people looking for work, and you have all these jobs that got taken away,” said Winters. “It's just, I just don't see how it's going to work. It just really is pretty scary.”
Sen. McConnell and other supporters of the ban have said closing the loophole will protect children.
“It will keep these dangerous products out of the hands of children. While preserving the hemp industry for farmers,” McConnell said on the Senate floor ahead of the spending bill’s passage.
His Kentucky counterpart, fellow Republican Senator Rand Paul, aggressively pushed back to repeal the hemp provisions, but was unsuccessful.
“This is the most thoughtless, ignorant proposal to an industry I’ve seen in a long, long time,” Sen. Paul said from the Senate floor.
Colorado Governor Jared Polis, a Democrat, released a statement saying Colorado has led the way in the hemp industry, calling out the state’s Republican delegation for voting in favor of the spending bills.
“Hemp is a symbol of the American spirit, George Washington grew hemp, and Betsy Ross sewed some of the first American flags out of hemp fiber,” Polis said in the statement. “It's disappointing to see the federal government leading with fear rather than a vision for the future, and cutting off access to a variety of hemp-based products.”
According to Colorado’s Department of Agriculture, they’ve anecdotally heard from some hemp producers that this will likely cause cannabinoid processors to cancel contracts within the next year, and cultivation will be scaled back.
The Department said Colorado has maintained an average of 140 growers over the past three years and registered acreage has increased from 1200 to 3800 acres over the same period.
Intended use of that acreage broke down to 46% cannabinoid, 43% fiber, 7% seed, and 4% other.
Colorado’s hemp industry is already heavily regulated, so some business owners, like Chuck Winters, said they don’t bother operating in the state. But he said it would likely lead to a boom in black market production and sales.
Still, other Colorado hemp business owners like Rebecca Connet said they’ve spent years building up their operations and might now have to close down altogether.
Connet runs Root the Rockies, which grows hemp in Kiowa, Colorado, and sells products ranging from face creams to capsules for anxiety and joint pains.
“They're basically doing a prohibition on hemp and CBD,” Connet said. “So, we would be out of business because everything we make would be above that limit.”
Connet’s husband is a freestyle motocross rider, so he’s suffered many injuries in his career. She said that led them to the hemp industry so they could find ways to soothe his pain.
“Opiate addiction, I think everybody's very familiar with, has taken a lot of our friends. Taken their lives,” she said. “So we wanted a natural medicine to help the community, and the country.”
Started in 2019, this is the first year they’ve made a profit, she said. Now, that could all come crashing down unless Congress acts to repeal or alter the new hemp restrictions.
Connet said the new hemp ban is based out of “ignorance” and will be devastating. She hopes more education and awareness can be built to showcase how CBD and hemp products have benefits.
“We've got to pivot, probably, right? Like if this doesn't happen, what are we going to pivot to do? Or do we shut down our doors?” said Connet. “It's unfortunate, but the community needs this product. I feel it needs an alternative to what is already out there with Big Pharma.”
There is a one year delay for the implementation of the new hemp provisions, which does give Congress time to further debate the measure and possibly alter the law.
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