Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is demanding a vote on his amendment to strike hemp-ban language from a part of the GOP-proposed deal that could end the government shutdown.
Eight Democrats joined with GOP senators to support a Republican-led stopgap funding deal Sunday, which includes a continuing resolution to reopen the government through Jan. 30 and three full-year fiscal 2026 appropriations bills. One of the three bills includes proposed changes to federal hemp policy that would ban the unregulated sale of hemp-derived THC products.
HEMP BAN MAKES IT INTO FUNDING BILL: ‘SOON BE BANNED NATIONWIDE’
The proposed bill adds various parameters to the definition of hemp, which would prevent “the unregulated sale of intoxicating hemp-based or hemp-derived products, including Delta-8, from being sold online, in gas stations, and corner stores, while preserving non-intoxicating CBD and industrial hemp products,” according to the bill summary.
Paul railed against the provision on X after filing an amendment to strike the proposed altered language.
“There is extraneous language in this package that has nothing to do with reopening the government and would harm Kentucky’s hemp farmers and small businesses. Standing up for Kentucky jobs is part of my job,” Paul said.
Paul “affirms his commitment to reopening the government without delay,” his deputy communications director, Gabrielle Lipsky, told the Washington Examiner, but he is committed to fighting the hemp ban.
“However, he objects to the inclusion of provisions in the government-funding package that unfairly target Kentucky’s hemp industry — language that is unrelated to the budget and the government-reopening goal. Dr. Paul will work to ensure that the final bill excludes this unrelated language to defend the livelihoods of Kentucky farmers, hemp processors, and manufacturing jobs,” Lipsky said.
The language in the proposed appropriations bill comes after a loophole in the 2018 farm bill surged the sale of easily accessible hemp-derived THC products in convenience stores and gas stations nationwide.
Paul’s Bluegrass State counterpart, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), has been on the opposite end of this saga, leading the charge in the Senate for stricter regulations on hemp.
McConnell spoke on the Senate floor in August in front of images depicting Delta-8 THC products that look similar to candy. He noted a University of Kentucky study that showed spiking cannabis-related emergency room visits among children.
The Texas Hemp Business Council, an industry advocate, criticized McConnell’s hemp regulation advocacy on X, writing Sunday that he “quietly slip[ped] a hemp ban back into the funding bill.”
McConnell’s office offered no comment when contacted by the Washington Examiner.
The Hemp Industry and Farmers of America, another industry advocate, amplified Paul’s amendment on its social media pages, calling the saga a “critical moment for [the] hemp industry.” U.S. Hemp Roundtable has also vouched for Paul’s amendment and called the moment “DEFCON1 for hemp.”
On McConnell’s side of the coin, groups like Smart Approaches to Marijuana have raised alarm bells on the loophole for several years and helped craft the language used in the proposed appropriations bill.
“These changes are crucial because hemp-derived Delta-8 and Delta-9 THC, two of the most popular drugs this industry pushes, are linked to horrific physical and mental health consequences — everything from hallucinations, vomiting, tremor, anxiety, dizziness, confusion, and loss of consciousness to severe psychosis-like events and severe illness and hospitalizations for children,” SAM’s executive vice president, Luke Niforatos, told the Washington Examiner.
SAM’s government affairs director, Jordan Davidson, ripped Paul on X as the “champion” of the hemp industry.
SENATE RACES TO PASS GOVERNMENT FUNDING DEAL BY END OF DAY
“As we wrap up the fight against intoxicating hemp, I’d like to take a moment to give a huge shoutout to the hemp industry for picking Rand Paul, the least popular Senator, as its champion,” Davidson said on X.
If the Senate votes to pass the deal, it will head back to the House for a vote.