Federal ban closes hemp loophole

When President Donald Trump signed legislation reopening the government, he also closed a loophole for hemp and cannabis. 

The loophole has allowed the sale of hemp products nationwide, even in states like Wisconsin where cannabis is illegal.  The loophole, created by the 2018 Farm Bill, allowed cannabis products if they contained less than 0.3% THC by dry weight. 

The new signed law closes that loophole. And along with it, cracks down on most THC products that have proliferated in the past seven years — dispensaries, smoke shops, gas stations and even those drinks next to alcohol at the grocery store. 

The crackdown would take effect next September. 

Ignite Dispensary is one of many businesses that would be affected by the new law. Spokesperson Tim Frey says the news was shocking and that the law was a “must pass” bill to re-open the government. He says given the federal shift, he’s been meeting with state lawmakers to make changes in Wisconsin. 

“So we are lobbying super hard to actually get a hemp bill passed in Wisconsin. If that doesn’t happen and federal stays the same, every store is out of business basically. 95 percent of the products will be taken off of the market,” says Frey.

Frey says that the medicinal properties of hemp help a lot of people including veterans with PTSD and older adults with chronic pain. 

Meanwhile, some communities in Wisconsin have started to crack down on cannabis-containing substances, prohibiting the sale to people under 21 and implementing other measures. 

Most of Wisconsin’s neighbors won’t be affected by the change. Minnesota, Illinois and Michigan have legalized recreational marijuana. A study from the Wisconsin Policy Forum found that three out of every ten residents in Wisconsin 21 or older live within an hour’s drive of a legal recreational marijuana dispensary.