Senator Mitch McConnell spoke to a group of hemp advocates in his home state of Kentucky that he will introduce legislation to legalize industrial hemp as an agricultural commodity.  If approved, Sen. McConnell’s legislation would allow states to control their own hemp regulations by removing federal restrictions.

What does this mean?

While industrial hemp has benefited from the 2014 Farm Bill and related state programs, there is still a considerable grey area surrounding the legality and commercialization of industrial hemp, including CBD, in the United States.  The Federal government has long taken the position that general commercialization of industrial hemp is NOT permitted in all 50 states and the DEA’s new definition for “Marihuana Extract” includes: “an extract containing one or more cannabinoids that has been derived from any plant of the genus Cannabis, other than the separated resin (whether crude or purified) obtained from the plant.” It should be noted that this definition of “Marihuana Extract” includes CBD isolate that is extracted from industrial hemp.  While Sen. MConnell’s legislation has not yet been released as of posting of this blog, the hope is that it will provide clarity on not only legalizing industrial hemp but also providing clear guidance on the legality of cannabinoids derived from industrial hemp.