Wyden, Merkley Lead Colleagues in Calling on Senate Leaders to Protect Hemp Legalization in Government Funding Bill

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today led their Senate colleagues in calling on Senate leadership to make sure no government spending bill re-criminalizes hemp products, and instead work together to consider legislation that would fully regulate these products and improve consumer safety.

In 2018, Wyden and Merkley worked closely with then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senator Rand Paul to secure language in the Farm Bill to legalize hemp products at the federal level. After passage, Wyden, Merkley and McConnell repeatedly pressed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate hemp-derived products to ensure consumer safety. The FDA failed to act for five years, leading to the proliferation of unregulated hemp products. This inaction led Wyden and Merkley to introduce the Cannabinoid Safety and Regulation Act to ensure the safety of children and adult consumers nationwide.

"We write to express strong opposition to the inclusion of any language … that would decimate the American agricultural hemp industry and imperil states' ability to prevent unsafe hemp-derived cannabinoid products from getting into the hands of children," the senators wrote in their letter. "[W]e suggest considering legislation to establish a hemp-derived cannabinoid product framework that: (1) restricts the sale and possession of hemp products to adults over age 21; (2) standardizes packaging and labeling to eliminate "look-a-like" snack products that are appealing to children while allowing adult-only consumers to make informed choices; (3) prohibits synthetic or artificially derived products; and (4) requires independent third-party laboratory tests for consumable hemp-derived cannabinoid products to ensure safety."

In addition to Wyden and Merkley, the letter was signed by Senators Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md., John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., Cory Booker, D-N.J., Michael Bennet, D-Colo., Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.

Text of the letter is here.

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