Tennessee's hemp industry is bracing for impact as state lawmakers champion legislation that could profoundly reshape its landscape, provoking a heated debate over proper regulation and economic ramifications for local businesses.
According to WKRN, House Majority Leader Rep. William Lamberth (R-Portland) has sponsored a bill targeting the industry's regulatory framework. The bill, still under legislative scrutiny, proposes stringent limits on hemp-derived cannabinoids, specifically THCA, with a cap at 0.1% when burned, a standard significantly below the federal threshold of 0.3%. This move arrives in the wake of an ongoing legal tussle over previously established regulations – ones the hemp sector challenged last December.
During a House Criminal Justice Subcommittee meeting on Tuesday, industry stakeholders voiced strong opposition, arguing that such prohibitive regulations could jeopardize over 70% of their sales from hemp flower products. "This bill as written will eliminate hemp agriculture in Tennessee," John Kerns, co-founder of New Bloom Labs, said in a statement obtained by WKRN. The critique extended to concerns that the bill's impact wouldn't be limited to THCA but would also inadvertently hit other hemp markets, including CBD and CBG.
In remarks obtained by WBIR, Rep. Ed Butler (R-Rickman) and Sen. Ferrell Haile (R-Gallatin) have also introduced legislation that would ban products containing THC-A and THC-P, substances legalized post-2018 Farm Bill. Taken together, the proposed measures could, as Travis McKinney, a local business owner and member of the Tennessee Healthy Alternatives Association, put it, "thousands of people will be laid off."
Meanwhile, at Tennessee Lookout, reports surfaced of Crossville businesswoman Maggie Clark's concerns that the bills threaten to shift industry control to better-capitalized operations, effectively sidelining smaller enterprises like hers. Moreover, House Bill 1376, co-sponsored by Lamberth and Sen. Richard Briggs (R-Knoxville), seeks to limit the sale of hemp and cannabidiol products to vape shops and liquor stores, excluding convenience stores from this segment of commerce.
As the debate over these bills continues, with significant economic and legal implications at stake, Tennessee's hemp industry remains in a suspension – awaiting a June court verdict on previous rules and potential legislative outcomes that could redefine their operation landscape.
