In mid-July 2024, in a House Agriculture Appropriations Committee meeting, an amendment to the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for 2025 was approved that reportedly included language similar to the amendment presented by Illinois Representative Mary Miller on the 2024 Farm Bill (1,2). Part of the Farm Bill encompasses the definition of hemp and hemp-derived cannabinoids, some of which can be intoxicating, and have proliferated throughout the country, though they remain unregulated (2). The previous version of the bill, approved in 2018, legalized hemp-derived products, as long as the hemp plant contained less than 0.3% tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) (3). Unlike the House Agriculture Appropriations Committee measure, measures in the 2024 Farm Bill would not take effect until late this year or early 2025 (2). In response to the amendment approved by the House Agriculture Appropriations Committee, Representative Morgan McGarvey introduced amendments that would remove the limitations on manufacturing hemp and confirm states’ ability to enact and enforce their own regulations and laws on hemp (1).

Source: Forbes July 31, 2024 12:43 UTC