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Missouri Bill To Restrict Hemp THC Products Stalls Amid Senate Filibuster

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2 months ago

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“We have to make sure we don’t have unintended consequences, and destroy things that don’t need to be destroyed.”

By Rebecca Rivas, Missouri Independent

A push for Missouri’s immediate approval of planned federal limits on intoxicating hemp products emerged Wednesday in the state Senate, with critics urging any changes to wait until national regulations take effect in November.

Democratic state Sen. Karla May of St. Louis led the two-hour filibuster invoice that would immediately ban hemp-derived THC beverages and edibles as soon as the legislation is passed and becomes law.

May argued in a Senate debate on Wednesday that the federal limits will be changed before they are implemented later this year. Congress passed a provision to ban these products as part of the federal spending package last year.

offered one correction which would align the Senate bill with a the proposal Sponsored by Republican state Rep. Dave Hinman of O’Fallon, Missouri would be allowed to sell the products nationwide if Congress allows it.

Hinman’s bill has cleared a House committee and is ready for debate by the full chamber.

“When Congress voted on this whole thing, this was literally reopening the government,” May said. “I mean, this wasn’t even a thoughtful conversation.”

The bill debated Wednesday afternoon, sponsored by Republican state Sen. David Gregory Chesterfield, would prohibit hemp products from containing more than 0.4 milligrams of THC per container and from having a THC concentration of no more than 0.3 percent by dry weight, delta-9 THC. These reflect federal boundaries.

Intoxicating hemp products containing as much as 1,000 mg of THC are being sold in smoke shops—outside of licensed marijuana dispensaries in Missouri—and are not regulated by any government agency. Missouri lawmakers have not passed legislation regulating these products since 2023.

Gregory has argued that his bill and the federal provision close loopholes left in the 2018 Farm Bill when Congress legalized hemp.

“My bill continues the intent of Congress three months ago, and of course our great people in Missouri,” Gregory said, “which is that if you get drunk from the cannabis plant, it’s marijuana and it should be heavily regulated under these specific rules.”

May has been a consistent critic of attempts to ban intoxicating hemp products outright, arguing that they should be regulated.

May said the amendment she offered to Gregory’s bill Wednesday was a “good compromise” because it would still align state and federal lines if Congress rewrites the federal boundaries.

“It’s not about removing your tongue,” May told Gregory. “And if (Congress) does nothing, your language will be the law of the land of Missouri.”

Gregory said his amendment went “a little too far” for him because Missouri would do “what the feds tell us.” He said these products urgently need to be regulated to protect children.

After more than two hours of debate, the Senate was forced to adjourn when it failed to get enough lawmakers from the chamber to form a quorum.

State officials estimated in 2024 that 40,000 food establishments and smoke shops and 1,800 food manufacturers were selling products that would be banned under the proposed federal regulations. This includes low-THC seltzers such as Mighty Kind and Triple, which have grown in popularity in liquor stores and bars.

May said lawmakers should consider those businesses when making decisions.

“It’s a complicated situation,” May said. “And I think we need to make sure we don’t have unintended consequences, and destroy things that don’t need to be destroyed.”

Hinman told The Independent Thursday that he spent about 20 hours this week working on his bill, so he expected it wouldn’t face the same hurdles Gregory faced during a full-house debate.

“There’s so much involved in this,” Hinman said, “and trying to legalize that is very difficult.”

He said there are three potential scenarios that could play out before November, when the federal limits go into effect.

The feds can continue with the current limits, he said, which “puts all hemp businesses out of business.” Congress could redefine what constitutes hemp and change the limit of 0.4 milligrams of THC per container to allow low-THC drinks and edibles.

“So in that case, we’re looking at what would happen if we changed that piece of the puzzle,” he said.

The third option is if Congress approves a two-year extension, he said, and “go for it.” That would mean Missouri would have to put some sort of regulation in place in the meantime, he said.

“We’re trying to write legislation that would effectively cover those three things,” he said, “So we’re trying to achieve the goal of making these hard negotiations successful for everyone in this market, if federal law is possible.”

This story was first published by the Missouri Independent.

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State hemp license applications end April 30

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13 hours ago

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April 19, 2026

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Those wishing to grow and process hemp this year must apply for a license from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) by April 30. Each license is valid until December 31 of the year it is issued. Graduates must reapply annually to continue in the program. An MDA license is required for individuals and businesses.

So far, about 30 people have applied for the 2026 MDA license, compared to 84 applicants last year.

These licenses are for the cultivation and processing of industrial hemp only. The hemp license application is not for adult use or for growing or selling medical cannabis. The application is also not intended for the sale of hemp-derived cannabinoid products. Information on adult use and medical cannabis is available Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) website.

There are applications of industrial hemp MDA website. Along with the online form, first-time applicants and authorized representatives must submit fingerprints and pass a criminal background check.

There are also several updates for the 2026 season. The extraction of cannabinoids from hemp is now regulated by the OCM, meaning that anyone interested in this type of processing will need a separate licence. The rates have also changed. The base cost of a hemp license is now $400, with an additional $250 per growing or processing location. The previous $250 processor license fee has been removed, but a 5% surcharge now applies to upgrades to MDA’s technology systems.

All authorized representatives listed on an application must pass a background check before being licensed. In addition, each lot of hemp must undergo THC testing before harvest, and each official sample collected by the MDA costs $100.

Source: Minnesota Department of Agriculture










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Colorado Marijuana Officials Announce Crackdown On Sales Of Hemp Products Amid ‘Risks To Public Safety’

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13 hours ago

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April 18, 2026

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These issues “pose serious risks to public safety, market integrity, and the tax revenue framework that supports Colorado’s regulated cannabis industry.”

By Christopher Osher, ProPublica and Evan Wyloge, The Denver Gazette

This story was originally published by ProPublica.

Colorado regulators announced Monday that they plan to crack down on companies that sell cheaper, potentially dangerous, illegal hemp products as marijuana.

The state’s Division of Marijuana Enforcement said it had identified “compliance issues” that threaten to dismantle the marijuana industry in the nation’s first legal retail market.

These problems “pose serious risks to public safety, market integrity and the tax revenue framework that supports Colorado’s regulated cannabis industry,” the agency said in an industry newsletter.

An investigation by the Denver Gazette and ProPublica in January reported that despite Colorado being one of the first states to ban the sale of intoxicating hemp products, the legislature and regulators. he failed adopting many of the rules that other states have used to keep hemp products off the medical marijuana shelves.

Creating evaporative and edible liquid distillate from hemp is much cheaper than using marijuana, giving companies a competitive advantage.

But regulators say they are concerned that manufacturers are relying on toxic and dangerous chemicals to convert the non-toxic CBD compound that is predominant in hemp into THC, the psychoactive compound that makes people feel high. Regulators have banned this chemical synthesis, saying they fear chemical residues could remain in the finished product, putting consumers at risk.

Colorado manufacturers have taken advantage of loopholes in the state’s testing and enforcement system to continue using hemp to make products marketed as marijuana, even though doing so is against state law, according to regulatory studies, previous agency bulletins and testimony and lab results contained in several lawsuits.

In 2024, state investigators found that a popular brand of marijuana sold at dispensaries was not only derived from hemp, but also contaminated with methylene chloride, the chemical often used to convert CBD from hemp into THC. Marijuana is banned by Colorado regulators and banned for most uses by the US Environmental Protection Agency because it can cause liver and lung cancer and damage the nervous, immune and reproductive systems.

Ware House, the company that manufactured these vaporizers, relinquished its marijuana license in response to the investigation. Ware Hause’s owner, Thanh Hau, and the company’s lawyer declined to comment.

Congress passed a law last November that bans nearly all hemp products nationwide starting this fall, but it’s unclear how the government will enforce the ban, and hemp growers are reeling.

In December, President Donald Trump issued an executive order telling his aides to work with Congress to develop rules that could allow certain hemp products.

The Colorado Division of Marijuana Enforcement made the announcement Monday newsletter agency officials stated that they “identified and investigated evidence” that marijuana companies are using illegal practices and prohibited methods to manufacture products, instead of relying on marijuana, which is supposed to be monitored for safety.

The Colorado Hemp Association and the Colorado Hemp Education Association did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Beyond safety concerns, the bulletin also noted that some marijuana manufacturers and growers are avoiding marijuana tax obligations through “a pattern of non-compliance” in sales operations they report to the state’s “seed-to-sale” tracking system, which tracks marijuana from the initial planting to the sale of flower, vapes and other products at dispensaries.

Companies misrepresent marijuana sales at nominal prices, in some cases as low as $1 per pound for unprocessed marijuana material, the newsletter said. Those products typically fetch more than $600 per pound on the market, depending on the category of marijuana, according to industry experts.

That fraudulent reporting has stolen millions of dollars in marijuana taxes from state and local governments, industry experts say, though no official estimate is available.

The agency said it will follow emergency rules to address these issues. The bulletin emphasized that suspicious and abnormal transactions and inventories detected by the state will prompt investigations. Companies caught using hemp or other illegal material passed off as marijuana face “immediate product embargo, license suspension or revocation, significant fines and law enforcement,” regulators warned.

The Denver Gazette and ProPublica have tried to track the anomalous transactions, but the Division of Marijuana Enforcement’s sales transaction records, even those that do not identify the companies, are not public.

Marijuana industry representatives met with the division’s regulators late last month to push for a more aggressive response to the agency’s hemp replacement, even though it could affect some companies in the industry. The representatives argued that bad actors are unfairly driving down prices and shifting the tax burden to manufacturers and growers who are trying to comply with the rules. The newsletter was released a couple of weeks after that meeting.

“The division is also considering additional changes to its testing and screening protocols” to detect illegal products and prohibited methods, and may require additional laboratory tests “if needed for products throughout the supply chain,” the agency’s bulletin said.

This article was produced in partnership with ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network Denver Magazine. Sign up for Submissions to receive stories in your inbox every week.

user photo WeedPornDaily.

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Nascent medical cannabis industry aims for growth

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2 days ago

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April 18, 2026

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The medicinal cannabis sector is struggling to take root, and another specialist processing plant is set to close. But with current regulations and a new collective industry in mind, New Zealanders are promising to reduce their reliance on imported medicinals.

There was great excitement when medicinal cannabis was legalized and then regulated in 2020, with the hope of growing the domestic sector and serving patients here and abroad. However, since then, several companies have closed their doors, including Greenfern Industries, Cannasouth and, most recently, Helius Therapeutics.

The latter plans to close the East Tāmaki plant, affecting 65 workers. It is one of the few medicinal cannabis factories in the entire nation that has a specialized processing certificate called “Good Manufacturing Practice” (GMP).

Medical Cannabis Council executive director Sally King said that under current rules, most growers did not have such certification, and could only sell raw ingredients, not processed products such as more profitable cannabis capsules.

Read more at the town










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