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A2 UP FRONT
Tuesday 14 January 2020

High anxiety: Proposed U.S. hemp rules worry industry

Continued from Front Agricultural officials in In addition, a pilot program
states that run pilot hemp for federal crop insurance
"Their business is to sup- cultivation programs under that would be available
port farmers — and not an earlier federal provision to hemp growers in some
punish farmers — and the are weighing in with formal states specifies that crops
rules as they're written right letters to the USDA. lost because of high THC
now punish farmers," said "There are 46 states where levels won't be covered.
Dove Oldham, who last hemp is legal, and I'm go- Those provisions are caus-
year grew an acre (0.40 ing to say that every single ing alarm among grow-
hectares) of hemp on her state has raised concerns ers and states with pilot
family farm in Grants Pass. to us about something hemp programs allowed
"There's just a lot of confu- within the rule. They might under the 2014 Farm Bill.
sion, and people are just be coming from different Some states allow THC lev-
looking for leadership." perspectives, but every els above 0.3%, and not all
The USDA did not respond state has raised concerns," include THCA in that calcu-
to the criticism but has said Aline DeLucia, director lation. Many permit more
taken the unusual step of of public policy for the Na- harvesting time for growers
extending the public com- tional Association of State This Dec. 17, 2019, photo shows teabags made using hemp- after THC testing.
ment period by a month, Departments of Agricul- derived CBD and other botanicals as they await final packaging Farmers are lobbying for a
until Jan. 29. The agency ture. at a warehouse in Portland, Ore. Associated Press 1% THC limit and a 30-day
told The Associated Press Most of the anxiety involves harvest window to give
it will analyze information how the federal govern- plants. The federal gov- group Vote Hemp. The re- them more flexibility while
from this year's growing ment plans to test for THC, ernment and most states maining 20% grow hemp for remaining well under THC
season before releasing the high-inducing com- consider plants with tiny its fiber, used in everything levels that can get people
its final rules, which would pound found in marijuana amounts — 0.3% or less — to from fabric to construction high.
take effect in 2021. and hemp, both cannabis be hemp. Anything above materials, or its grain, which The draft regulations don't
that is marijuana and illegal is added to health foods. "seem to be informed by
under federal law. But hemp is a notoriously the reality of the crop," said
Yet another cannabis com- fickle crop. Conditions Jesse Richardson, who with
pound has fueled the ex- such as sunlight, moisture his brother sells CBD-infused
plosion in hemp cultivation. and soil composition deter- teas and capsules under
Cannabidiol, or CBD, is mine its ratio of THC to CBD. the brand The Brothers
marketed as a health and Choosing the right harvest- Apothecary.
wellness aid and infused in ing window is critical to "If no one can produce
everything from food and ensuring it stays within ac- (federally) compliant hemp
drinks to lotions, toothpaste ceptable THC levels. flower, then there will be no
and pet treats. Under the draft USDA rules, CBD oil on the market."
Many have credited CBD farmers have no wiggle Growers are also worried
with helping ease pain, in- room. They must harvest about the proposed rule
crease sleep and reduce within 15 days of testing requiring that all THC test-
anxiety. But scientists cau- their crop for THC, and the ing be done in a DEA-cer-
tion not enough is known samples must be sent to tified lab because there
about its health effects, a lab certified by the U.S. are so few of them. Some
and the U.S. Food and Drug Drug Enforcement Admin- states have only one, which
Administration last year tar- istration. Samples must be would serve hundreds of
geted nearly two dozen from the top of the plant, growers in a short harvest
companies for making CBD where THC levels are high- window.
health claims. est, and the final meas- Samantha Ford, a third-
Still, the CBD market is in- urement must include not generation farmer in North
creasing at a triple-digit just THC, but also THCA, a Carolina, waited two
rate and could have $20 nonpsychoactive compo- weeks to get back THC re-
billion in sales by 2024, ac- nent. sults from a lab last fall and
cording to a recent study Crops that test above 0.3% then spent 45 days harvest-
by BDS Analytics, a market- for the two combined must ing her 1 acre (0.40 hec-
ing analysis firm that tracks be destroyed. Growers with tares) of hemp by hand.
cannabis industry trends. crops above 0.5% would "The 15-day window —
About 80% of the 18,000 be considered in "negli- that's not feasible, and that
farmers licensed for hemp gent violation," and those was on a small scale," she
cultivation are in the CBD with repeated violations said. "I can't imagine farm-
market, said Eric Steenstra, could be suspended from ers who have acres and
president of the advocacy farming hemp. acres and acres of it."q