What hemp brands want from federal regulations
As hemp-based edible brands face a potential ban later this year, some are calling for clear regulations from Congress that will keep their products on shelves.
This month, a new proposed bill by Congressman Morgan Griffith of Virginia outlined specific guidelines for selling hemp-derived products. Brands in the space say the Hemp Enforcement, Modernization and Protection (HEMP) Act is a promising start in trying to establish clear caps for both non-intoxicating and intoxicating cannabinoids. The bipartisan legislation would cap oral products like beverages and edibles at 10 milligrams per serving and 50 milligrams per package of non-intoxicating cannabinoids like hemp-derived THC. Other categories, like topical and inhalable products, would have a 100-milligram-per-serving limit. The bill is also proposing a universal intoxicating limit of five milligrams of delta-9 THC per serving and 30 milligrams per package.
If passed, HEMP will ostensibly allow many edible and THC beverage brands to continue operating, as the Trump Administration simultaneously pushes to finalize the rescheduling of cannabis on a federal level.
With the rising popularity of edibles and drinks, in particular, executives from the exploding category say the criteria in Congressman Griffith’s proposal would be ideal for weeding out unregulated and unsafe products from the market.
Diana Eberlein, chair of the Coalition for Adult Beverage Alternatives, told Modern Retail, “As an industry, we commend Congressman Morgan Griffith for introducing the Hemp Enforcement, Modernization, and Protection (HEMP) Act and for his continued leadership in advancing thoughtful federal oversight of hemp-derived products.”
For one thing, Eberlein said, the effort would give hemp farmers, manufacturers and retailers the stability to continue scaling their business under these dosage guidelines. The bill’s regulatory framework for hemp would also fall under the FDA’s jurisdiction.
Thomas Winstanley is the evp of Edibles.com, the marketplace for hemp-derived THC products owned by Edible Arrangements. Winstanley said the new legislation “marks a meaningful course correction” from the uncertainty of the past six months. “By establishing clear federal standards, the bill curbs the influx of dangerous products containing exotic or synthetic compounds,” Winstanley said, which he said are often imported, untested and manufactured without transparency.
“At the same time, it creates a sustainable regulatory model,” said Winstanley, which helps “remove bad actors” and restores consumer confidence, while pushing for overall industry-wide reforms.
While the HEMP bill would help limit THC traces, some brands worry that the dosage limit is too arbitrary.
Extract Labs makes THC and CBD products and this month launched Sojourn THC Seltzers. Craig Henderson, founder and CEO of Extract Labs, said there are still some caveats the bill’s language leaves out that he’d like to be tightened.
If HEMP is interpreted and implemented the way it’s drafted, he added, the law would still allow businesses to sell full-spectrum CBD tinctures that contain naturally-occurring traces of THC. “That matters because prior proposals were basically a backdoor attempt to force everything into ‘isolate-only’ products and strip consumers of choice,” Henderson said.
“That said, I’m going to be blunt: The proposed THC caps are too low,” Henderson said. “If Congress sets the limits at numbers that don’t match real-world use, this turns into a ‘regulate it out of existence’ bill instead of a workable framework.”
Extract Labs’ customers include many veterans who use the brand’s hemp-derived products as part of their wellness routines, Henderson said. For instance, the company sells a CBD muscle cream for targeted pain relief that contains 2000 milligrams of CBD and 1000 milligrams of THC. Some of these products can be tweaked under the new rules. “But access shouldn’t get wiped out because lawmakers picked a number that sounds good in a headline,” he said. Henderson prefers the concerns be fixed with better enforcement of testing, labeling, child-resistant packaging and 21-plus age gating.
“We support rules that target bad actors,” he said. “But we’re not going to pretend that arbitrary low caps are ‘consumer protection’ when the predictable outcome is that customers either lose access, brands go under or people get pushed toward unregulated alternatives.”
For executives like Edibles’ Winstanley, this is the time for the industry to help lawmakers set the regulations for hemp products as there is enough momentum on both sides of the aisle.
“There has never been stronger bipartisan support for hemp on Capitol Hill, as evidenced by the introduction of these forward-looking bills,” Winstanley said. And while consensus around the need for reform is clear, he said, “The ultimate success of this legislation may hinge as much on timing and legislative mechanics as on agreement over policy.”