The recently passed bill that ended the longest government shutdown in U.S. history could have major impacts on the U.S. hemp industry. A last-minute addition to the bill by Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will impose strict new requirements on hemp products in an effort to close a loophole that has allowed a market of intoxicating hemp-derived products to flourish nationally.
Specifically, the 2018 Farm Bill unintentionally paved the way for a broad market of psychoactive substances very similar to Delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which remains federally scheduled, to emerge legally in all 50 U.S. states.
