You Can Save Hemp In Illinois – Here’s How
Illinois is a great hemp state. Unfortunately, it is also home to several of the largest MSO marijuana corporate conglomerates, many of which would like to kill the state’s hemp industry. The Illinois Hemp Business Association (ILHBA), led by my colleague Charles Wu, has been working hard to keep hemp lawful in Illinois. Most recently, the ILHBA is battling proposed regulations that would severely damage and undermine years of positive growth by the state’s hemp industry. Problems with the proposed regulations include the following, as set forth in the ILHBA’s comments:
- They overstep statutory authority by redefining “cannabis” and criminalizing the majority of existing operating hemp businesses and their consumers.
- They redefine “THC” by adding sub-definitions such as “Acceptable Hemp THC Level,” “Decarboxylation,” “Post Decarboxylation Value,” Total THC” and “Total Potential THC” and then apply these definitions to intermediate hemp products.
- They change the methodology for determining how the 0.3% hemp vs cannabis THC limit for final products is calculated by creating a definition of “hemp” that is in conflict with the 2018 Farm Bill. This change will make approximately half of the current Illinois consumer hemp market illegal for anyone but dispensaries licensed under the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act.
- They add business-to-business transportation prohibitions while removing language allowing for the transportation of hemp for retail customers. This imposes extreme potential criminal liability for the retail possession and sale of hemp products in Illinois.
If these regulations are implemented, most of the state’s hemp businesses will be shuttered or face potential criminal action. Fortunately, you can help stop these hemp-killing regulations from being implemented!
Here’s how you can help:
Prepare comments regarding how the proposed regulations will impact your business. If you are based in Illinois and/or sell hemp products into the state, it is important that you submit comments. The ILHBA has graciously offered to assist in preparing the comments and in having them submitted properly. You can get started by emailing Daisy Garong: [email protected]
The battle for the soul of cannabis is currently being fought by hard working, small hemp businesses. Unless you want to see corporate MSOs control cannabis and how it is distributed, then you need to participate in states’ legislative and rulemaking processes. Commenting is enormously important and effective. It is also an easy way to educate our policymakers on the hemp industry. Let the regulators in Illinois know that these new proposed regulations are bad for the hemp industry and its consumers. You can also let them know that the hemp industry supports reasonable regulations, like the Three Pillars approach that I have discussed at length: age-verification, quality control, and consistent labeling.
Here are the comments submitted by the ILHBA:
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November 11, 2024
Rod Kight is an international cannabis lawyer. He represents businesses throughout the cannabis industry. Additionally, Rod speaks at cannabis conferences, drafts and presents legislation to foreign governments, is regularly quoted on cannabis matters in the media, and is the editor of the Kight on Cannabis legal blog, which discusses legal issues affecting the cannabis industry. You can contact him by clicking here.
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