Bills addressing hemp policy continue to percolate at statehouses around the country. Here, thanks largely to the US Hemp Roundtable's regular state policy updates, is a look at the latest on the hemp front:
Georgia
Senate Bill 33 is an extremely restrictive measure that would echoes the recent federal cannabinoid language by limiting THC to 0.4 milligrams per container, a potency level so low as to make products following this regulation commercially unviable. This bill has already passed the state Senate and is currently before the House Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee.
The bill does not create a regulatory framework for hemp-derived cannabinoid products but would instead virtually eliminate them, removing market choice from consumers and disrupting existing hemp businesses in the state.
The US Hemp Roundtable opposes this bill and urges Georgia residents to use its Georgia Action Center to contact lawmakers to tell them to kill it.
Kentucky
Lawmakers in Frankfort are pondering two different methods of regulating hemp-derived cannabinoids. Senate Bill 33 would fold them into the state's existing framework for regulating alcohol, while House Bill 9 would impose a 1.6 percent tax on hemp-derived cannabinoids.
The Roundtable supports SB 33, noting that it "authorizes supplemental licenses allowing qualified retailers—including hemp retail establishments—to sell cannabis-infused beverages" and "establishes a clear regulatory pathway under the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control" while barring open containers of THC beverages in motor vehicles.
The Roundtable could also support HB 9—if it is amended "to ensure the framework is fair, workable, and properly tailored to the types of hemp products on the market today." The group is calling for amendments that would eliminate the double taxation of THC beverages at both wholesale and retail, reduce the licensing fee for retailers to be commensurate with alcohol licensing fees, and exempt non-intoxicating cannabinoid products from licensing fees and requirements.
Kentucky residents can weigh in at the Kentucky Action Center to urge lawmakers to support SB 33 and appropriately amend HB 9.
Pennsylvania
Senate Bill 49 would establish a Pennsylvania Cannabis Control Board to oversee marijuana and hemp-derived products under a single regime, but was recently amended to mirror the updated federal definition of hemp, which would effectively ban up to 95 percent of hemp-derived cannabinoid products.
The Roundtable opposes this bill, saying it "would eliminate large portions of the lawful hemp marketplace rather than establishing a workable regulatory system," which could include testing standards, age restrictions, labeling requirements, and enforcement provisions against bad actors.
The bill is currently before the Senate Law and Justice Committee. Pennsylvania residents can urge their lawmakers to oppose this bill via the Pennsylvania Action Center.
South Carolina
A bill that would broadly and idiosyncratically prohibit hemp products capable of producing a "psychoactive reaction" except in beverages, House Bill 924, has passed the House, won a Senate committee vote last Thursday, and now awaits a Senate floor vote. The bill would allow hemp beverages to contain up to 10 milligrams of THC per container but would criminalize other hemp products, such as gummies or other edibles, entirely.
The Roundtable opposes the bill as written but supports a proposed amendment from Sen. Josh Kimbrell (R-Spartanburg) to regulate all hemp-derived cannabinoid products instead of banning them. If science-based standards work for hemp beverages, they can work for hemp edibles, too, supporters argue.
South Carolinians are invited to use the South Carolina Action Center to urge their lawmakers to oppose HB 3924 in its current form and support the Kimbrell amendment to allow the regulation of hemp consumables.
Virginia
The US Hemp Roundtable has issued a "red alert" over late-breaking developments in a broader recreational marijuana bill, Senate Bill 542. After different versions of the bill passed both houses, language was added in conference committee that would virtually kill the state's hemp industry by mid-year. The new language creates a 2 milligram cap on THC per package and eliminates the 25:1 CBD-to-THC ratio exception that has shaped Virginia’s hemp market for the past two years.
The bill's hemp provisions would go into effect in July, while the legal marijuana sales would not begin until 2027, "creating a gap in consumer access to cannabinoid products while forcing small businesses to immediately liquidate inventory and close operations."
The bill is before Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D), who has until April 13 to sign or amend it. One possible fi I to create a transition period allowing hemp products currently on the market to remain until regulated marijuana sales begin.
Virginians can use the Virginia Action Center to contact the governor and urge her to amend the bill.