USA: towards hemp with 1% THC?

The U.S. House Appropriations Committee has asked three federal agencies to re-examine the scientific basis for the current 0.3% THC limit for industrial hemp, the level set in the 2018 Farm Bill which legalized hemp cultivation at federal level.

In a report legislation covering the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Food and Drug Administration (FDA), some legislators have questioned the 0.3% THC limit of the Farm Bill, which prompted the committee to ask the USDA, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Drug Enforcement Administration to study the question.

Arbitrary« THC limit

«The Committee is concerned that the level of THC content allowed in hemp may be arbitrary and represent a burden on hemp growers that is not supported by science,» says the report, asking agencies «to study and report back to Congress on whether there is a scientific basis for the current 0.3% THC limit in hemp and to suggest alternative levels if necessary.».

L’THC limit increased to 1% is widely supported by American hemp stakeholders and was one of the proposals in a bill, the Hemp Economic Mobilization Plan (HEMP) Act, introduced earlier this year in the US Senate. Raising the THC level in hemp would make it possible to take advantage of varieties developing more cannabinoids, CBD in particular. Furthermore, such an increase in the THC limit would help protect farmers from crops that take too much advantage of climatic conditions and exceed the current THC limit of 0.3%. In many states, such crops have to be destroyed if necessary.

Finally, such a change would put the United States on an equal footing with many Asian and Latin American countries, which are abandoning the widely observed global limit of 0.3% THC and setting a limit of 1% THC. THC, As the world's regulatory systems for industrial hemp evolve, so does the industry's ability to adapt. Some American states, such as Minnesota, have already raised the THC level in hemp to 1%.

The House Appropriations report also indicates that a resolution is required to be authorized to exceed the 0.3% THC threshold at certain stages of cultivation or processing.