Five Key Documents Necessary to Understand Industrial Hemp Law

On Thursday, November 30, I’ll be speaking at a presentation hosted by the Seminar Group titled, “The Business of Marijuana in Washington State.” In preparation for this event, I’ve put together a list of materials that I think are vital to understanding the law on hemp-derived CBD (Hemp-CBD). Below is a list of statutes, cases, and other authority that frames the legal status of Hemp-CBD.

The Agricultural Act Of 2014 Section 7606 (the 2014 Farm Bill). Any analysis of US policy regarding hemp must the begin with the 2014 Farm Bill. Section 7606 of the 2014 Farm Bill is the starting point of the country’s rapidly expanding Hemp-CBD industry. The 2014 Farm Bill allows states to implement agricultural pilot programs overseeing the cultivation of industrial hemp. Industrial hemp is defined as the cannabis plant with less than .3% THC on a dry weight basis. States that have implemented an agricultural pilot programs are then authorized to issue licenses or permits to individuals and entities who can then cultivate industrial hemp. The 2014 Farm Bill requires a research component. What constitutes research is not defined within the “four corners” of the 2014 Farm Bill. Some states, such as Colorado, Kentucky, and Oregon, have interpreted the 2014 Farm Bill liberally, allowing the commercial sale and distribution of industrial hemp and industrial hemp products, such as hemp-CBD.

Statement of Principles on Industrial Hemp (the Statement). In 2016, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), issued the Statement. The stated goal of this guidance document is to provide clarity as to how federal law applies to activities associated with industrial hemp, grown pursuant to the 2014 Farm Bill. The DEA interpreted the 2014 Farm Bill taken narrowly as the Statement indicates that the general commercial sale of industrial hemp is not permitted except for “marketing research” conducted by institutions of higher education or state departments of agriculture. The DEA also interprets the 2014 Farm Bill to prohibit the interstate transfer of industrial hemp. The DEA has not enforced the Statement robustly. For the most part, the commercial sale of industrial hemp and Hemp-CBD and the interstate transfer of industrial have been unimpeded by the DEA.

The Agricultural Appropriation Act of 2018, Section 537. One of the major reasons that the DEA has not followed up on the Statement, is that Congress has exercised its “power of the purse” to prevent the DEA from using federal funds to prevent the interstate transfer of industrial hemp or the commercial sale of industrial hemp. This was first enacted in 2017 and recently was renewed to run through December 9, 2018.

Hemp Indus. Ass’n v. U.S. Drug Enf’t Admin., 720 Fed. Appx. 886 (9th Cir. 2018). This case, decided by the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, was brought by the Hemp Industry Association in response to the DEA’s “marijuana extract rule.”

The rule established a new drug code specifically for marijuana extracts and defined a marijuana extract as any extract containing cannabinoids derived from the cannabis plant. On its face, the rule makes no distinction between industrial hemp and marijuana. Shortly after issuing the rule, the DEA issued a clarifying statement that said that the rule only applied to derivative of marijuana, and that it would not make any extracts that were otherwise legal under US law illegal.

HIA was unsuccessful in the sense that the Ninth Circuit upheld the rule, dismissing the HIA’s challenges on procedural grounds. However, the DEA’s rule was left largely toothless by the time the Court issued its memorandum as the DEA had already walked back the rule through its clarification. Additionally, the Court stated that the 2014 Farm Bill preempted the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), meaning that when the CSA and 2014 Farm Bill conflict, the 2014 Farm Bill prevails. This preemption interpretation does not set precedent, as the memorandum is non-binding. It does, however, give credence to the argument that the 2014 Farm Bill preempts the CSA.

Hemp Farming Act of 2018. The Hemp Farming Act of 2018 was introduced by Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell. Mitch McConnell hails from the state of Kentucky, which has become a major player in industrial hemp. The Hemp Farming Act is much more detailed than the 2014 2014 Farm Bill. It explicitly removes industrial hemp and derivatives from industrial hemp, including CBD, from the CSA. It also provides a more robust regulatory framework’s for states to implement industrial hemp programs.

The Hemp Farming Act was adopted in its entirety in the Senate version of the 2018 Farm Bill. The house version of the 2018 Farm Bill did not include the Hemp Farming Act. Before the 2018 Farm Bill can be enacted into federal law, both houses of Congress must agree on the language of the Bill. Recently, McConnell guaranteed that the hemp provisions included in the Senate Bill would make the final cut. If that’s true, then as early as next year we will see a much more thoughtful (and discernible!) federal policy on industrial hemp.