According to a Justice Department scientist, it would take a person to “smoke an entire joint the size and shape of a telephone-pole” in order to get high on hemp, even though the THC content is marginally higher than the 0.3 percent threshold that separates federally legal hemp from marijuana.
This is part of the reason why the federal definition for hemp in the 2018 Farm Bill can be a little confusing. The low THC standard was created to keep people away from intoxicating products. However, the origins of the 0.3 percent rule are not based on science.
In a podcast episode of Justice Today, posted in this month, Frances Scott, a physicist at the National Institute of Justice’s (NIJ) Office of Investigative and Forensic Sciences, under the DOJ, stated, “It’s a very hard line and a very low line.”
Scott led a research in 2022 that tested dozens of hemp products that were marketed legally. Police Chiefs Magazine published the findings that revealed the “vast” majority of products tested above the threshold of 0.3 percent THC, making them “legally cannabis.”
Some of these were 0.35 percent or 0.4 percent okay? She said that they were very small amounts. The implication is that these are legitimate farmers who are trying to grow hemp. They are not trying to grow illegal marijuana to get you high, because you would have to smoke a joint as big as a telephone pole in order to get anything from that 0.35 percent.
It’s also fascinating to know where the 0.3 percent of that number came from. Scott explained that the 0.3 percent was derived from a hypothetical mention in a 1950s article.
Researchers explained that the specificity of the 0.3 per cent delta-9 THC dry weight definition creates problems when it comes non-flower products such as “lotion or oil”.
The NIJ Podcast Conversation touches on a subject that is likely to come up again in Congress, this year as legislators get back to working on the next version of the Farm Bill following the extension of the previous version.
The Congressional Research Service (CRS), recently outlined the ways in which different policy priorities amongst industry stakeholders can complicate the task. However, there are several areas of agreement between the top industry groups.
One of these shared interests is amending law to increase the THC limitation to one percent for hemp that is compliant. This proposal was also addressed by a separate bill from Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME), , in 2022.
Other hemp bills have been filed in this session, which lawmakers could also incorporate into the larger agricultural legislation.
A bipartisan bill filed in March aims to stop what critics call a “discriminatory federal policy ” that prohibits people with previous felony drug convictions, from owning or running legal hemp businesses.
Another measure, introduced last year with bipartisan sponsors, would lower regulations on farmers who grow industrial hemp non-extraction.
Other hemp stakeholders and lawmakers are most interested in finding a legal pathway that allows for the marketing of hemp products such as CBD oil in food and dietary supplements. Food and Drug Administration has the regulatory authority over this issue. However, at the start of the year the FDA said that it did not have a way to achieve it and offered to work with Congress to find a solution.
In response, Sens. Ron Wyden, Rand Paul (R.KY), Jeff Merkley and Earl Blumenauer (D.OR) filed legislation in July last year that would eliminate regulatory barriers FDA claims prevent it from allowing CBD Marketing.
Recent reports could also lead to additional reforms, since it has come to light that USDA is revoking hemp licenses from businesses who hold dual state licenses.
Despite the economic conditions, however, a recent report found that a data-google-interstitial=”false” href=”https://www.marijuanamoment.net/sales-of hemp derived cannabinoids like cbd are outpacing legal marijuana and are on par with craft beer – report findings/” rel=”noopener” target=”_blank>the hemp market in 2022 was larger than all state marijuana markets A recent report, however, found that despite the economic conditions, in 2022, the hemp market was larger than the state marijuana markets and roughly equaled the sales of craft beer nationwide.
Congressional Researchers Detail Limitations of Marijuana Reclassification for State Markets and Criminal Justice Reform
Photo by Brendan Cleak.
The post Justice Department researcher questions 0.3% THC limit for hemp, saying federal law is based on 1950s anecdote first appeared on Marijuana Moment.
