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When Republican rep from Kentucky Andy Barr promised a bill to regulate hemp bevs like alcohol including a 3-tier structure and all the trade practice bells and whistles, he meant it. The Lawful Hemp Protection Act (LHPA), announced today by Barr and Minnesota Democrat Rep Angie Craig, contains among the most robust proposals for a hemp-derived THC regulatory structure seen to date, including lots of near identical regs to those governing alcohol, according to bill text shared today by the US Hemp Roundtable. Some of those proposed provisions contain major concessions, especially on packaging, labeling and marketing, to allay concerns about appealing to youth. Facing existential threat of a Nov deadline at which point current law would essentially prohibit the entire hemp-derived THC market as currently formulated, large swaths of the hemp biz may be willing to take whatever it can get. Plenty of alc bev industry members allied themselves closely with hemp bev bizzes and remain just as eager for regulatory clarity from the feds. But others in the industry are staunch opponents insisting on a level playing field. The LHPA appears crafted to specifically answer that request. Will it be enough to tip the scales and clear some prior road blocks, especially in the Senate? A companion bill for that chamber could show up as early as next wk, perhaps from MT Sen Tim Sheehy, the Hill reported.Familiar Concerns: Age Gating, THC Content, Testing & Labeling New bill would establish regs “for cultivation, manufacturing, testing, and labeling,” release from Reps Barr and Craig asserts, including a slew of restrictions common to many bills addressing hemp. That means barring sales to anyone under age 21 (as well as prohibiting possession by those same underage youth), natch. And tho it raises the limit on the amount of THC allowed in hemp plants from 0.3% to 1% by dry weight, it adds lots of new restrictions for growing and processing, including permitting and testing, while barring synthetic cannabinoids.Bill gives the FDA a yr to set maximum allowable THC content for finished hemp products, tho if agency doesn’t act, it establishes a “fallback” limit of 5mg per serving for consumable products like bevs. FDA labeling rules apply, broadly, with requirements for 1) per serving and per package THC content; 2) warnings about impairment, driving and use while pregnant; and 3) a QR code or other link to testing results and a certificate of analysis. Formulations combining hemp-derived THC with alcohol, caffeine, tobacco, nicotine and melatonin are all barred, as are health claims. Bill also gives FDA teeth to go after bad actors in violation of these and other provisions.New Twists with Alc-Like Echoes: 3 Tiers and Trade Practices for Bevs, Driving Laws & Tax Structure Bill takes many cues from fed alc bev regs, tho most only apply to competing hemp-derived THC bevs. It instructs the Treasury Dept (i.e. TTB) to establish rules for a 3-tier structure “with strict tied-house restrictions,” the release from Reps Barr and Craig explains. Bill text details required fed permits to either manufacture or distribute hemp bevs, insisting that “no person may hold any interest, directly or indirectly, in more than one tier.” Trade practice and unfair competition provisions also included in proposal, barring agreements or inducements of retailers that would exclude other competing hemp bev products thru a variety of mechanisms, including offering things of value or credit, commercial bribery or consignment sales.Regs designed to limit driving while intoxicated by THC also take a page or two from the book on alcohol. Bill text requires state field sobriety tests to match protocols for detecting impairment with prescription drugs, but penalties “no less stringent than those applied to alcohol-related impairment.” It similarly would withhold fed highway funds from states without satisfactory laws, tho it doesn’t require a certain threshold for measuring impairment (akin to .08 blood alcohol content). Proposal would also protect state laws that are more restrictive or “at least as protective” as state laws governing alcohol.If passed, the LHPA would establish the first federal tax on hemp-derived THC. And here too, bevs are treated separately, setting tax at 5 cents per mg of THC. All other products given a 5% sales tax. At $0.05 per mg, 12 oz cans of 5mg hemp bevs would pay a quarter per can, $6 per case and close to $83 per bbl. That’s over 4.5x the $18 per bbl paid on most beer produced by the largest US brewers and many times the $3.50 per bbl paid by the smallest US brewers on their first 60K bbls. (Note: on first blush, bill appears to levy taxes on both products, described above, and producers, adding another 5% tax on manufacturer gross receipts, tho we could be missing some minutiae.)Marketing Concessions: No Characters, Cartoons, Animals, Fruit or Bright Colors Barr and Craig’s bill also intends to enact strict new provisions designed to prohibit “the marketing or advertisement of any hemp products towards children.” But crafting such language means some tough hoops to jump. In addition to expected restrictions like barring images and features that imitate existing products, the LHPA would prohibit “labeling depicting, or in the shape of, characters (real or imaginary), animals, vehicles, cartoons, candy, or fruit” as well as “brightly colored products and packaging.” Lots of existing hemp bev packages employ brightly colored images of fruit, in particular. (Tho these provisions may be particularly ripe for 1st Amendment challenges.)“Commonsense” Proposal Offering “Certainty,” Reps Say; “Serious, Science-Based and Bipartisan” Recall, KY is homebase of many hemp farmers and MN is most established hemp bev mkt, so homestates of Reps Barr and Craig no real surprise and both specifically comment on benefits to their constituents in comments about the bill today. Both describe it as “commonsense,” seeking to offer either “clarity” or “certainty” to the market, “while ensuring products are safe and kept out of the hands of children,” as Barr continued. Release also offers quotes from leaders of the US Hemp Roundtable, Hemp Bev Alliance and the Hemp Industry & Farmers America. The LHPA is “a serious, science-based, and bipartisan solution at exactly the moment the hemp industry needs it most,” said USHR gen counsel Jonathan Miller.7 Attys Genl Seek “Regulatory Certainty” in Letter to Congress The intro of the bill comes just a wk after attys genl from 7 states sent letter to Congressional leaders with similar lingo used by Reps Barr and Craig. These AGs seek “a federal regulatory framework that supports state efforts” to govern low-dose, intoxicating hemp bev production and sale. Top law enforcers from GA, MO, MT, OK, PA, UT and WV argued for “the need for regulatory certainty” while drawing clear distinctions with higher-dose, synthetic products. These AGs “strongly agree that some products should be removed from the marketplace,” understanding the “public concern” caused by “products seen in gas stations, smoke shops, and other retailer establishments.” Letter specifically calls for many of the provisions of the LHPA today, including prohibitions that leave “a narrow lane for low-dose, naturally-derived beverages that lend themselves to regulation using the existing federal and state beverage alcohol framework,” according to these AGs.

Long-Awaited Hemp Bill from Reps Barr, Craig Drops with Alcohol-Like Structure; 7 AGs Seek “Certainty”

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