The Connecticut House of Representatives this week passed a bill to regulate ingestible hemp products, with lawmakers saying the legislation is necessary to protect the public from the potentially harmful effects of hemp-derived cannabinoids. The House approved the measure, House Bill 5150, by a vote of 130-16 on Tuesday, less than three months after it was introduced in the legislature by the House General Law Committee. The legislation now heads to the Connecticut Senate for consideration.
Hemp agriculture and products made from hemp were legalized more than five years ago with the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill by the U.S. Congress. Since then, a multitude of ingestible hemp products, many with intoxicating cannabinoids, have been introduced to the market, with widespread availability at retailers including convenience stores, gas stations and smoke shops. Representative Mike D’Agostino, one of the lead sponsors of the bill, said that legislation is needed to put controls on the unregulated market for hemp-derived cannabinoid products.
“We can’t ban them, but we can regulate the hell out of them,” said Democratic Representative Mike D’Agostino, the co-chair of the General Law Committee, according to a report from the Hartford Courant. “We say, OK, those products need to be manufactured in accordance with our standards. They need to be labeled in accordance with our standards they have to be to have disclosures in accordance with our standards.”
The legislation would regulate hemp products including THC-infused beverages, limiting the sale of certain products to adults age 21 and older. The bill also redefines and expands the definition of high-THC hemp products, which are more tightly regulated than others. Additionally, the bill establishes a new category of THC “which it classifies as an ‘infused beverage’ and requires it to meet many of the requirements for manufacturers of hemp products,” …
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Author: A.J. Herrington / High Times
