Will The New USDA Hemp Rules Cause A Hemp Industry Crisis? Strict Regulations Have Lawyers Concerned.

One of my favorite lawyers to stay in touch with is Rod Kight. His blog is fantastic. Following his work for years, he’s always spot on. He hits the nail on the head again with this potential WARNING to the hemp industry.

On October 29, 2019, USDA issued it’s much anticipated rules for hemp. In an article titled USDA Hemp Interim Rule: Crisis or Opportunity? cannabis business attorney Rod Kight raises two distinct issues that will likely effect the industry.

Read the article. Essentially, labs are being required to register with DEA, which will make farmers more nervous of “hot” crops, or crops that test over the THC limit and are thus Schedule I substances as “marijuana” instead of hemp and two, most current strains of hemp are now outlawed due to a stricter THC testing method that counts THCA as THC, making it both likelier that “hot” crops will result and ensuring that innovation and experimentation will be limited to crops of inferior genetic origin.

Also, as a sidenote — and this is not to say whether the critics are right or wrong — these memes are circulating in the marijuana advocacy community.

We’ll see what happens with these new regulations, but as expected, and as I said on Iowa Public Radio earlier this year, all regulations will do is screw up legitimate business, and legislators face an impossible task that is not solvable, since the entire way these people think these substances should be regulated is absurd on it’s face from the start.

Another good article to read: https://cannabusiness.law/usda-hemp-regulations-analysis-the-provisions-you-need-to-know/