23,453 emails!

Last week, after learning that Senator Chuck Grassley filed an amendment to the Farm Bill which might have restricted the sale of hemp-derived products such as CBD, we asked you to take action. You responded. Wow, did you respond! By the next morning, you broke the Internet – more than 100,000 social media interactions, and just through our online portal alone, you sent 23,453 emails to US Senators. It worked.

The Farm Bill passed out of the Senate Agriculture Committee, with the full Hemp Farming Act, with only one no vote. BUT WE ARE NOT DONE YET! Senate Majority Leader McConnell expects the Farm Bill to pass the full Senate before July 4. However, we can’t take any chances. And we need to get prepared for the House’s consideration of the Farm Bill later this summer. We need you to take immediate action to maintain our momentum.

Because of your actions, now even Senator Grassley proclaims himself “pro-hemp.” However, as summarized in this letter he later sent to a constituent, Grassley incorrectly asserts that the Hemp Farming Act would open up a Wild West of sorts for CBD – there would be no regulation of any sorts, and harmful products could injure vulnerable children. We have adjusted our online portal to urge Senators to reject any future efforts to weaken the permanent legalization of hemp and hemp-derived products like CBD. Here is our message:

• You can’t be “pro-hemp” and against hemp products. Hemp-derived CBD currently offers the most mature and viable market for hemp farmers. No farmers in their right minds would grow a crop that they couldn’t sell.
• Hemp is not marijuana. Hemp-derived CBD is not medical marijuana. With only tiny traces of THC — the compound that gets you high in much larger dosages – hemp-derived CBD is not a drug, nor should it be treated like one.
• Hemp-derived CBD is not dangerous. Not even close. A key committee of the World Health Organization recently declared it safe, well-tolerated, and non-addictive.
• There will remain plenty of regulatory oversight to protect consumers from products that are harmful:
  • States will maintain primary jurisdiction, with health and consumer protection statutes guarding against malicious producers.
  • In a Technical Amendment inserted by Leader McConnell, the Farm Bill makes clear to those confused by Grassley’s statements that the Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act remains in place to provide federal protection for consumers against bad actors.
  • By January, the US Hemp Roundtable will help launch a self-regulated organization that provides standards and best practices for the industry, and award seals to appear on hemp products that meet its stringent self-regulation. (Read more about this here.)

Please help us. Even if you sent an email last week, return to our online portal to send a new message to your Senators to be vigilant against weakening of the Farm Bill. And please share this message and our portal with your friends, customers and social media contacts.