INDUSTRY UPDATES

May 21, 2021

New Hemp Bill in MI and Updates in CO, NY, and TX

Michigan: A substitute for Michigan HB 4517 was recently introduced and recommended in the state House. The substitute is designed to clarify protections for consumable hemp products, while also regulating products with intoxicating levels of total THC as part of Michigan’s marijuana program. Under the bill, total THC includes THC-A, delta-8, delta-9, delta-10 and a structural, optical, or geometric isomer of a THC. The Roundtable is actively working to ensure HB 4517 becomes law. Michigan Hemp Supporters are encouraged to use our State Action Center to urge state legislators to support the HB 4517 substitute.

Colorado: In Colorado, the Department of Revenue recently issued an industry-wide bulletin that prohibits a marijuana products manufacturer from converting a hemp product, such as CBD isolate, into delta-9, delta-8, delta-10 or other THC isomers. The bulletin is expected to be available soon on the Department of Revenue’s website.

New York: Just this week, New York published comprehensive regulations that govern processing, manufacturing, and selling cannabinoid hemp products. The final regulations follow draft regulations that were proposed in fall 2020. Among noteworthy rules, cannabinoid hemp products may not contain synthetic THCs or THCs created through isomerization, including delta-8 and delta-10 THC. And cannabinoid hemp processors are prohibited from using synthetic THCs and delta-8 and delta-10 THC created through isomerization.

Texas: Finally, in Texas, we previously highlighted, HB 3948 and SB 1778 as vehicles for lifting Texas’s ban on manufacturing smokable hemp products. With the help of our partners in the Texas Hemp Coalition, we successfully lobbied for an amendment to HB 3948. That bill now allows manufacturing smokables if the products are sold out of state.

But SB 1778 needs an amendment of its own. The bill is intended to prohibit consumable hemp products that contain intoxicating levels of total THC or synthetic THCs. The problem is that total THC is defined to include all isomers of THC, such as CBD. We are working with legislative staff and have sent the bill’s author a letter urging an amendment that cracks down on intoxicating THCs, but not does implicate non-intoxicating products like CBD. As highlighted above, this is the same approach that Michigan, and other states like California and New York, are taking.

STATE ACTION CENTER