{"id":7796,"date":"2017-10-17T15:21:49","date_gmt":"2017-10-17T15:21:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.denverpost.com?p=2824369&amp;preview_id=2824369"},"modified":"2017-10-17T15:21:49","modified_gmt":"2017-10-17T15:21:49","slug":"hemp-power-players-lobby-congress-to-shift-mind-set-legalize-crop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/hemp-power-players-lobby-congress-to-shift-mind-set-legalize-crop\/","title":{"rendered":"Hemp power-players lobby Congress to shift mind-set, legalize crop"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/hemp-power-players-lobby-congress-to-shift-mind-set-legalize-crop\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"large-10 large-centered small-12 columns\">\n<div class=\"entry-meta-date\">Published: Oct 17, 2017, 8:28 am \u2022 Updated: Oct 17, 2017, 1:39 pm<span class=\"single-comments-link\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"byline\">By <span class=\"author\"><a class=\"url fn n\" href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/author\/awallace\/\" rel=\"author\">Alicia Wallace<\/a><\/span><em>, The Cannabist Staff<\/em><\/p>\n<p>American hemp is flush with grassroots organizations working to ensure the industry rises to prominence.<\/p>\n<p>Now it has a \u201cgrass-tops\u201d organization working to ensure that hemp\u2019s fledgling federal protections gain permanence.<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. Hemp Roundtable, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, launched earlier this year with the backing of high-profile national hemp industry trade groups and a diverse slate of businesses. The coalition has ramped up lobbying efforts on behalf of the latest attempt to fully legalize hemp.<\/p>\n<p>The nearly 30-member group is supporting the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2017 (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/115th-congress\/house-bill\/3530\/\">H.R. 3530<\/a>), a bill <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/08\/15\/industrial-hemp-farming-act-congress-comer-polis\/85923\/\">introduced in late July by Rep. James Comer, R-Kentucky<\/a>, that would <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/03\/03\/lists-federal-marijuana-laws-legislation-congressional-cannabis-caucus\/73878\/\">exclude hemp plants from the definition of marijuana<\/a> under the Controlled Substances Act. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur whole point here, the message we\u2019ve got to get to Congress is (hemp is) an agricultural commodity, but not a controlled substance,\u201d said Jonathan Miller, a Lexington, Ky.-based attorney who serves as the U.S. Hemp Roundtable\u2019s general counsel.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s an argument that has been made in the past to little avail, but Miller\u2019s group is brimming with optimism about this iteration. He said H.R. 3530\u2019s list of co-sponsors is growing \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/115th-congress\/house-bill\/3530\/cosponsors\">30 Congress members have signed on<\/a> as of Oct. 10; the measure is benefiting from \u201cbroad ideological support\u201d; and it\u2019s gained the backing of prominent agriculture groups such as the National Farmers Union and the American Farm Bureau Federation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll of the political cards are, right now, in our favor,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<p>And, to that point, that\u2019s where the U.S. Hemp Roundtable could step in and stack the odds further in the industry\u2019s favor, he added. <\/p>\n<p>The U.S. Hemp Roundtable\u2019s roots can be traced to Kentucky, home to one of the nation\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/01\/06\/kentucky-hemp-production-2017-growers-approved\/70743\/\">most mature hemp markets<\/a>. The organization initially was founded a couple of years ago as the Kentucky Hemp Industry Council \u2014 shortly after Kentucky <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lrc.ky.gov\/record\/13rs\/sb50.htm\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">established its industrial hemp law<\/a> \u2014 and its aim was to work for the betterment of local hemp businesses.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was a realization that our top goal needed to be the passage of this legislation in Congress,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n<p>To accomplish that would require a force more than one state strong.<\/p>\n<p>The group adopted the national moniker earlier this year, dissolving the Kentucky Hemp Industry Council in the process. Since rebranding, membership grew fourfold to nearly 30 businesses and organizations.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s strength in numbers, but numbers also beget plenty of differing opinions, he said, noting the diverse business membership that ranges from investment and consulting firms to makers of textiles and CBD-rich extracts. <\/p>\n<p>The U.S. Hemp Roundtable can serve as a singular voice for the collective on topics such as the <a href=\"https:\/\/assets.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4110225\/U-S-Hemp-Roundtable-CBD-Legal-Opinion.pdf\">legality of hemp-derived extracts<\/a>, and it\u2019s begun preliminary work on a self-regulatory organization to establish standards for industry members. But it also needs to firm up its mission, Miller said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s really important for us to be on the same page,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Some members and cannabis advocates have pushed for marijuana-related amendments to be tacked onto House Bill 3530. The roundtable\u2019s position: Keep a laser-focus on hemp.<\/p>\n<p>While hemp and marijuana are the same species, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/plants.usda.gov\/core\/profile?symbol=casa3\">Cannabis sativa L.<\/a><\/em>, hemp is defined in the 2014 Farm Bill as <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/04\/05\/hemp-lawsuit-federal-court-dea-rule-marijuana-extracts\/76635\/\">containing less than 0.3 percent psychoactive THC<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Cannabist has reached out to Comer for additional comment, but his office didn\u2019t immediately respond.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe believe pretty strongly that (the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2017) would pass, and it would pass by a comfortable margin,\u201d Miller said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s not true about marijuana.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s also some concern it would further muddle the lobbying efforts focused on educating lawmakers on the differences between the hemp and marijuana plants, he said. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur biggest challenge, no doubt, is the confusion,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<h4>Read: <a href=\"https:\/\/assets.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4110225\/U-S-Hemp-Roundtable-CBD-Legal-Opinion.pdf\">CBD legal opinion from the U.S. Hemp Roundtable<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/assets.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4110225\/U-S-Hemp-Roundtable-CBD-Legal-Opinion.pdf\">U.S. Hemp Roundtable, CBD Legal Opinion (PDF)<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/assets.documentcloud.org\/documents\/4110225\/U-S-Hemp-Roundtable-CBD-Legal-Opinion.txt\">U.S. Hemp Roundtable, CBD Legal Opinion (Text)<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"entry-meta-author\">\n<div class=\"authorimage\"><a class=\"url fn n\" href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/author\/awallace\/\" rel=\"author\"><img src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/hemp-power-players-lobby-congress-to-shift-mind-set-legalize-crop.jpg\" class=\"authormug\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p class=\"author-desc\">Alicia Wallace joined The Cannabist in July 2016, covering national marijuana policy and business. In her 14 years as a business news reporter, her coverage has spanned topics such as the economy, natural foods, airlines, biotech, retail,&#8230;<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!-- .row --> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>The U.S. Hemp Roundtable, an alliance of national trade groups and businesses, seeks to hammer home message that industrial hemp should be an agricultural commodity, not a controlled substance. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[330,117,6970,55,151,6813,77,5667,9,6833,6855,5019,441,1,3,18,61,1736],"tags":[2908,2695,6972,2635,2729,6818,2655,5673,6835,6856,5022,3015,2622],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7796"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7796\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}