Items Tagged with 'Vote Hemp'

Newsom has signed a bill legalizing hemp CBD products, upsetting a coalition of farmers fiercely opposing the measure while winning praise from others for opening new market opportunities.

USDA loosened regulatory requirements for hemp in a new rule issued Friday, giving producers more time to harvest their crops after testing for THC levels and not requiring they use laboratories registered with the Drug Enforcement Administration until the end of 2022.

The industrial hemp industry’s “green rush,” which began in mid-2017, has cooled, at least for those growing hemp for the cannabidiol (CBD) market and many companies that process it.

Many in the hemp industry are worried a new Drug Enforcement Administration rule will make processors vulnerable to enforcement under the Controlled Substances Act, and some are looking at filing a lawsuit to challenge it.

Too much product, some high-profile bankruptcies and continued regulatory uncertainty contributed to making 2019 a tough year for hemp growers, but proponents of the versatile plant say it’s still viable in the long term for uses including CBD (short for cannabidiol), food and fiber.

State agriculture departments and a broad cross-section of the hemp industry are telling USDA its rule governing domestic production will hurt the nascent industry by imposing sampling and testing requirements that are virtually impossible to meet.

USDA’s new hemp rule was generally well received by industry and states, but one longtime advocate is raising concerns that its testing requirements could create a logjam at harvest time.

This year's hemp crop is three times bigger than last year's, which could mean a struggle for growers trying to get their plants processed.