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Federal Spending Bill Closing Hemp THC Loophole Passes House Committee

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4 weeks agoon

While many states have already passed local laws to crack down on intoxicating hemp products, lawmakers at the federal level are now positioning to shut down the sale of hemp-derived THC industry throughout the entire U.S.
Republican lawmakers in the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies on Thursday voted 9-7 to advance a federal spending bill containing language to prohibit the sale of any amount of hemp-derived THC or similar cannabinoids, Marijuana Moment reported.
In opening remarks about the proposal, the subcommittee chair, Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD), said the bill “closes the hemp loophole from the 2018 Farm Bill that has resulted in the proliferation of intoxicating cannabinoid products, including delta-8 and hemp flower being sold online and in gas stations nationwide.”
Aaron Smith, CEO of the National Cannabis Industry Association, said in the report the change would “ensure these products are made and sold without oversight, delivering a big win to the drug cartels at the expense of public health and safety.”
“Congress should empower federal agencies to regulate these products responsibly, not double down on prohibitionist policies that have already proven to be failures both in practice and in the court of public opinion.” — Smith, via Marijuana Moment
The bill will be considered by the full committee next.
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Nowadays, people tend to associate the cannabis plant with Mexico, and for good reason. For decades, narcos smuggled their harvests into the United States and Europe. Along with California, Mexico is known to produce some of the finest cannabis in the world. The states of Sinaloa, Nayarit, Jalisco, Michoacán, Guerrero, Oaxaca, Chihuahua, Sonora, and Durango—where the largest farms are located—all have climates that are perfect for cultivating cannabis: year-round temperature ranging between 70 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit, with cool, long nights and low humidity.
But long before cannabis was introduced to—and became synonymous with—the New World, it was being cultivated in the lands of Central Asia. Initially, though, the cannabis or hemp plant was grown not for its leaves but for its stems, which could be processed into a strong and durable rope.
Excavations reveal that humans have been using hemp rope since the Neolithic age. The earliest evidence for burning cannabis, meanwhile, dates back to 3,500 BC, and is attributed to the Kurgans of modern-day Romania. This Proto-Indo-European tribe probably burned the plant as part of their rituals and ceremonies, a practice that spread eastward as its practitioners migrated. Why the Kurgans burned cannabis is difficult to say. They may well have discovered the plant’s psychoactive properties by accident, only to find that the smoke heightened their connection with all things spiritual.
The earliest evidence for smoking cannabis comes from the Pamir Mountains in western China. There, in 2500-year-old tombs, researchers discovered THC residue inside the burners of charred pipes that were probably used for funerary rites. (Similar pipes, dated to the 12th century BC, were later found in Ethiopia, left there by a separate culture). These devices, compared to pyres, would have yielded a much stronger high. Given their placement inside a crypt, however, it’s safe to say they were used only ceremonially, not recreationally.
Some scholars have argued that cannabis was an important ingredient of soma, a ritual drink concocted by the Vedic Indo-Aryans of northern India. Described in the Rigveda, a collection of ancient Sanskrit hymns, soma was made by extracting juice from an unknown plant. When taken in small doses, soma was reported to induce a feeling of euphoria. In higher doses, it caused people to see hallucinations and lose their sense of time. All three of these effects have been ascribed to cannabis, but even if cannabis was not the main ingredient of soma, it may have been combined with psychedelics such as psilocybin, a.k.a. magic mushrooms.
Aside from rope, cannabis was most often processed into medicine. When the Hindus of India came down with a case of “hot breath of the gods,” healers treated the illness with cannabis smoke. The logic behind this treatment was not exactly scientific; cannabis was thought to possess healing powers because it was the favorite food of the supreme godhead Shiva, also called “Lord of Bhang.” In reality, cannabis would have been able to reduce fevers because its active ingredient, THC, works on the hypothalamus to lower body temperature.
The Assyrians used cannabis not in a medical but in a religious context, burning it in their temples to release an aroma that supposedly appeased their gods. Sources from the region refer to cannabis as qunubu, providing a possible origin for the word we use today. The Assyrian Empire was conceived in the 21st century BC and lasted until the 7th. During this time, it engulfed much of modern-day Iraq as well as parts of Iran, Kuwait, Syria and Turkey. Through trade and conquest, Assyrian traditions spread to neighboring societies, including the Dacians, Thracians and Scythians, the latter of which were among the first to consume cannabis in a distinctly recreational manner.
The Scythians were part of a Central Asian nomadic culture that flourished from 900 to around 200 BC. Originating in northern Siberia, Scythian tribes settled as far as the shores of the Black Sea, where they came into contact with the ancient Greeks. When Scythians died, their friends and family burned hemp inside tents to commemorate their passing. While the Kurgans and Assyrians burned their cannabis out in the open or in large indoor spaces, the Scythians were essentially hotboxing themselves at every funeral. At least, that’s the image we receive from the historian Herodotus, who wrote that “the Scythians enjoy [the hemp smoke] so much that they would howl with pleasure.” And so, the primary purpose of this ritual was to send off the dead; it clearly also served to entertain the living.
Herodotus did not live among the Scythians, but his observations seem to have been confirmed by excavations. Archeologists discovered fossilized hemp seeds at a Scythian camp in western Mongolia that were left there between the 5th and 2nd century BC.
Romans, too, consumed cannabis for their own pleasure, but not in the way you might expect. Like many societies of classical antiquity, they harvested the plant for its seeds rather than its leaves, which were discarded as a waste product. When grounded, the seeds were used in medicine. When fried, they were served up as delicacies during lavish dinner parties. Roman chefs mentioned cannabis seeds in the same breath as caviar and cakes. Galen, the famous Roman physician, wrote that they were consumed “to stimulate an appetite for drinking.” Nowadays, it’s the seeds—not the leaves—that are considered useless. However, the Romans believed they, too, had some intoxicating properties; Galen adds that, when consumed in large amounts, the seeds would send people into a “warm and toxic vapor.”
Cannabis was so widely consumed in classical antiquity that people raised the same questions and concerns we are debating today. The Greek physician Pedanius Dioscorides, for instance, wrote that the plant’s spherical seeds, “when eaten in excess, diminish sexual potency.” Modern-day cannabis users are all too aware of the connection, even if they don’t eat seeds. As stated by Healthline, cannabis is “often associated with side effects that may affect sexual health, including erectile dysfunction.” Similar to some psychedelics, the general sense of euphoria generated by cannabis may counteract or override the reception of sexual stimuli.
Let’s skip forward a bit. Recreational smoking became especially popular after the 9th century AD. In the Middle East and Western Asia, the followers of Islam took up the habit for the simple but somewhat amusing reason that their holy scripture, the Quran, forbade the consumption of alcohol and various other intoxicating substances. Fortunately for Muslim stoners, the Quran did not say anything about weed. Of course, they smoked not just any weed, but hashish.
Skipping forward again, this time to the 16th century—the century that cannabis arrived in the New World, and for the sole purpose of making rope, no less. Actually, Americans did not start smoking weed until about one hundred years ago, when Mexican immigrants entered the country to seek refuge from the Mexican Revolution. For decades, the U.S. government turned a blind eye on this harmless, multicultural and age-old practice. However, this changed during the Great Depression, when Washington redirected the anger of unemployed workers to their Mexican brethren. After millennia of peaceful consumption, cannabis was suddenly decried as an “evil weed,” and, in 1937, the U.S. became the first country in the world to criminalize cannabis on a national level.
The rest, at this point in time, has now become history as well.
Original publication: 2022

Author: mscannabiz.com
MScannaBIZ for all you Mississippi Cannabis News and Information.
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Rhode Island Marijuana Regulators Seeking Applications For New Dispensary In State’s Northern Region

Published
17 hours agoon
July 5, 2025
“The office is actively conducting outreach and establishing communication with previously qualified applicants.”
By Christopher Shea, Rhode Island Currant
The state’s Cannabis Control Commission is looking to license a new compassion center in northern Rhode Island after plans for one in Woonsocket were scrapped.
The three-member commission has reopened applications for candidates who qualified to open the medical marijuana dispensaries in the original 2021 license application process, with submissions due September 18. The license is reserved for a business that opens in Zone 1, which includes Burrillville, Cumberland, Glocester, North Smithfield and Woonsocket. Smithfield is excluded, as voters in 2022 narrowly rejected allowing retail cannabis shops in town.
R.M.I. Compassion Center Inc. won the Zone 1 license in the fall 2021 lottery, with plans to open at Walnut Hill Plaza in Woonsocket by last summer, according to its website. R.M.I quickly faced pushback from local zoning officials, resulting in a court battle that R.M.I ultimately won.
But the center never opened and R.M.I. withdrew its application in January after failing to meet the state’s licensing requirements in September 2024, according to a consent order from the Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation.
Paul Isikwe, who is listed on state documents as the president of the business, did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Four other applicants qualified for the 2021 lottery: Livity Compassion Center, Medici Compassionate Care Center Inc., New Leaf Compassion Center Inc. and Pinnacle Compassion Center Inc. To receive the license now, they must meet new regulatory requirements, including proof of zoning approval, operational readiness and adherence to safety standards.
None of the four had reapplied as of Tuesday, Charon Rose, a commission spokesperson said in an email, and a Medici director told Rhode Island Current it would not try again.
“It takes a lot of work—we’d have to get property again and redo everything,” said Christopher Roy. “And the other problem is the fees—it just makes it impossible to do business.”
“The office is actively conducting outreach and establishing communication with previously qualified applicants to support their understanding of the process and timeline,” Rose said. “We remain available to answer any questions and are committed to ensuring a smooth and transparent process as we move forward.”
Prospective dispensary owners must pay a $10,000 application fee, but Rose said previously qualified applicants would not have to pay again. Once approved, compassion centers must pay an annual licensing fee of $500,000. If an applicant wants to sell recreational cannabis under a hybrid license, allowed as of 2022, that requires an additional $30,000.
But Thomas Mirza, president of New Leaf Compassion Center, said he still intends to reapply for the northern Rhode Island license. Mirza’s plan is to also sell recreationally under a hybrid license.
“You have to, otherwise economics don’t work,” he said in an interview Tuesday.
A Zone 1 compassion center would bring the state’s total to eight. The first quarter of 2025 saw nearly $2.9 million in revenue go into the state’s coffers.
Regulators are still working on opening applications for the 24 new retail licenses allowed under the 2022 law that legalized recreational sales.
This story was first published by Rhode Island Currant.

Author: mscannabiz.com
MScannaBIZ for all you Mississippi Cannabis News and Information.
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Texas Medical Marijuana Industry Wants Lawmakers To Ban Synthetic Delta-8 THC And Restrict Hemp Products To Adults

Published
21 hours agoon
July 5, 2025
“Medical marijuana and hemp can co-exist in Texas, if it’s done responsibly.”
By Stephen Simpson, The Texas Tribune
Texas’s medical marijuana dispensaries entered into this year’s legislative session with a two-prong strategy to expand: to loosen the state’s rules on their industry that has made the program largely inaccessible to those who need it and to eliminate the competition, consumable hemp, which has been allowed to proliferate unregulated, cannibalizing users and profits.
The medical marijuana industry, also known as the Compassionate Use Program, notched victories on both fronts with state lawmakers, but, on the latter, failed to win over the man who has the ultimate say—Gov. Greg Abbott (R).
Now that the governor has vetoed a bill that would have criminalized the sale and possession of hemp-derived THC, medical marijuana dispensaries fear they can’t continue to operate if Texas doesn’t agree to heavily regulate the hemp industry or at least, give the medical program the same freedom.
“I was surprised, just extremely surprised and borderline in disbelief when I heard about the veto,” said Nico Richardson, CEO of Texas Original, a Central Texas medical marijuana company. “The expansion [to the medical marijuana program] was meant to include the hemp restrictions.”
State lawmakers have been called back to Austin on July 21 for a special legislative session to tackle how they want to regulate the hemp industry now that a ban is off the table for now. Leaders in the medical marijuana program want the Legislature and Abbott to ban a major piece of the consumable hemp industry, synthetic delta-8 THC, and to raise the age to buy the remaining hemp products. They also want lawmakers to increase dosage limits on medical marijuana products.
“But it also presents a unique opportunity to go back to the drawing board, bring important stakeholders to the table, and get it right this time around,” said Jervonne Singletary, a spokesperson for the Austin medical marijuana company goodblend. “Medical marijuana and hemp can co-exist in Texas, if it’s done responsibly.”
Rein in consumable hemp
Abbott urged lawmakers in his veto to consider regulating consumable hemp similarly to alcohol by recommending barring the sale and marketing of THC products to minors, requiring testing throughout the production and manufacturing process, allowing local governments to prohibit stores from selling THC products and providing law enforcement with additional funding to enforce the restrictions.
Medical marijuana leaders also want regulations to go a step further by banning a significant part of the smokeable hemp industry, products that contain the synthetic THC known as delta-8. The products are cheap to manufacture and have a longer shelf life because they contain a small amount of natural hemp. Delta-9 THC, like marijuana, on the other hand, is derived straight from the plant and is more time-consuming and expensive to produce since it requires a grower’s expertise.
“Our products are comparable in price to the delta-9 THC products. What we can’t compete with is these delta-8 products because we can’t manufacture chemicals, and frankly, we wouldn’t want to because it’s not responsible,” Richardson said.
The Texas Hemp Coalition, the industry’s nonprofit advocacy arm that monitors market changes, supports regulations on delta-8. Aaron Owens, a member of the hemp industry, said he supports an outright ban because it would allow hemp growers to have more control over the market, rather than laboratories.
“The number one problem is these synthetics. You take those away and 95 percent of the industry disappears because this stuff isn’t coming from the farmer,” said Owens, a hemp farmer and founder of Austin-based Tejas Tonic, a hemp beverage company. “A ban on synthetics would…go back to the old-fashioned hemp-and-cannabis way.”
Members of the hemp industry said they would be willing to accept many of the regulations that Abbott proposed in his veto. They would also agree with implementing an age restriction of 21 to purchase THC-containing hemp products and to bar the sale within 1,000 feet of a school or church.
“I think by bringing those standards up for hemp, I think it will help us coexist,” Singletary said. “I want to make it really clear that we are not anti-hemp, but we do feel like the hemp industry needs to follow some really clear, defined rules.”
Without heavy regulation on the hemp industry, Richardson said the state’s medical marijuana is doomed to fail under the burden of state regulations. Texas has one of the most strictly regulated medical marijuana programs in the country, making their products more expensive than hemp-derived THC and limited on where the medical marijuana program can reach.
House Bill 46, which goes into effect September 1, aims to loosen the reins on the medical marijuana program by allowing distributors to store their products in various satellite locations, rather than requiring them to travel across the state to return the product to the original dispensary on a daily basis.
It also allows patients in the program to use products like cannabis patches, lotions and prescribed inhalers and vaping devices and licensed dispensers to open more satellite locations.
The bill expands the number of total dispensary operators to 12—one for every public health region in the state and an online option—but allows that number to go up to 15. Currently, there are three medical marijuana dispensaries, with two of them primarily located in Central Texas and the third mostly online. Traumatic brain injury, Crohn’s disease and chronic pain were also added as qualifying conditions for the program.
However, Richardson said, allowing the consumable hemp industry to continue under the status quo would render HB 46 obsolete.
“You can’t compete with the price of zero regulation because that is not safe,” he said. “If they want recreational THC, they need to have the proper systems in place first and the proper regulations because right now this is not a safe way to sell recreational cannabis.”
The road to coexisting
Although Patrick has signaled he will push to ban hemp again during the special session, some medical marijuana operators are ready to focus on themselves.
“We are laser-focused on expansion,” Singletary said. “We are laser-focused on getting new conditions, getting new formats, creating overnight storage and changing the dosing requirements from percentage to milligrams.”
One of the main complaints issued against the state’s medical marijuana program is the cost. Medical marijuana products in Texas can start as low as $4 and go up to as much as $80 for box of gummies, depending on the concentration of THC, according to Singletary.
“Our costs are high because we do well grown products in addition to regulations. We are required to test these products and get our information to the [Department of Public Safety] for review. We have to do accurate labeling, all of which is good for the program and peace of mind, but adds a small cost to it,” she said.
Singletary believes expansion, especially as more dispensaries start operating online, will help lower costs, although it could take about two years.
“What you saw at the beginning of Florida’s medical marijuana program was $60 to $80 products. Now you see those down to about $20 since the expansion” in 2017, she said.
Richardson said if hemp remains, lawmakers should adjust the dosage limit placed on the Texas’ medical marijuana program.
“We have a 10 mg dosage cap [for products], but recreational has nothing. That is wild if you think about it,” he said.
Despite the challenges, Singletary said the medical marijuana industry welcomes regulations because their products have psychoactive and intoxicating properties.
A balance of regulations between the hemp and medical marijuana industries will help them coexist—one to meet recreational needs and the other for those who need more guidance and safer products.
“We just want to see sensible regulations. We want to ensure that people know what they’re taking, especially because these two products are two components of the same plant. However, you want to frame it, these two things are sisters,” she said.
This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/01/texas-hemp-thc-marijuana-medical-regulations/.
The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.
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