Oregon Senators Want To Keep Hemp Legal

Oregon senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley are calling on their fellow senators to keep hemp products legal. Wyden and Merkley said they want to make sure no government spending bill re-criminalizes hemp products. Instead, they are calling on lawmakers to consider legislation that would fully regulate these products and improve consumer safety.

In 2018, Wyden and Merkley worked closely with then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senator Rand Paul to secure language in the Farm Bill to legalize hemp products at the federal level. After passage, Wyden, Merkley and McConnell repeatedly pressed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate hemp-derived products to ensure consumer safety. The FDA failed to act for five years, leading to the proliferation of unregulated hemp products.

This led to Wyden and Merkley introducing the Cannabinoid Safety and Regulation Act to ensure the safety of children and adult consumers nationwide.

Democrats Want To Prevent Kids From Ending Up With Hemp Products

“We write to express strong opposition to the inclusion of any language … that would decimate the American agricultural hemp industry and imperil states’ ability to prevent unsafe hemp-derived cannabinoid products from getting into the hands of children,” the senators wrote in their letter this week. "[W]e suggest considering legislation to establish a hemp-derived cannabinoid product framework that: (1) restricts the sale and possession of hemp products to adults over age 21; (2) standardizes packaging and labeling to eliminate “look-a-like” snack products that are appealing to children while allowing adult-only consumers to make informed choices; (3) prohibits synthetic or artificially derived products; and (4) requires independent third-party laboratory tests for consumable hemp-derived cannabinoid products to ensure safety.”

In addition to Wyden and Merkley, the letter was signed by Democrat senators: