WASHINGTON – The U.S. Food & Drug Administration’s failure to regulate hemp consumables after Congress legalized the plant in 2018 has led to proliferation of potentially dangerous illicit products and harmed industrial farmers. That was the gist of U.S. Hemp Roundtable General Counsel Jonathan Miller’s testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Wednesday morning.
“We’ve watched in bewilderment as the FDA has jerked back and forth with contradictory opinions,” Miller said during the hearing, entitled Restoring Trust in FDA: Rooting Out Illicit Products. “First the agency affirmed its ability to regulate CBD under current law. But then the FDA stalled, even ignoring Congressional appropriations-report directives to take expedited action. Finally, in 2023, the agency stated that it cannot regulate CBD under existing regulatory pathways, essentially punting responsibility to Congress. This regulatory uncertainty resulted in the collapse of the CBD market … denying economic opportunity that was promised to farmers.”
Miller also discussed consumer demand for hemp products, including intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoids. But, he said, with unclear direction from the FDA, farmers have been unable to fully leverage the new market demand. He blamed the FDA’s inaction for the rise of “bad actors” who offer poorly manufactured, unsafe products that are marketed to minors as well as adults.
In response, Congress attempted to redefine hemp in the 2024 Farm Bill that failed to pass last year. Legislators will attempt to pass the bill again before an extension of the 2018 Farm Bill expires in December. Included in the pending legislation is an amendment excluding “non-naturally occurring synthetic and intoxicating products and prohibiting hemp cannabinoid products with ‘quantifiable amounts’ of total THC (including THCA) or any other cannabinoids that have (or are marketed to have) ‘similar effects on humans or animals.’”
“I want to be very clear,” Miller told the committee. “The hemp industry is united behind an appropriate response to these challenges — robust regulation of hemp products, not misguided prohibition. We support an approach that includes the following four pillars: restrict youth access, increase quality control standards, standardize labeling, and standardize packaging.”
Miller went on to express his support for the Cannabinoid Safety and Regulation Act (CSRA) introduced by U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR). CSRA would establish national standards to protect public health and ensure cannabis and hemp products are not accessible to minors. The bill also would require all hemp-derived products to undergo safety testing and tasks the FDA with recalling any products found to contain dangerous chemicals or additives.
Ultimately, Miller believes a two-pronged approach to regulation is necessary. He called for states and the federal government to coordinate regulatory efforts, saying FDA can create a framework that authorizes the sale of hemp products while mandating uniform standards for labeling, packaging, and testing, but states should be allowed flexibility to deal with more complex and regional issues.
“We have taken the additional step of establishing the U.S. Hemp Authority, the industry’s self-regulating organization, which sets rigorous standards for safety, quality, and transparency across the supply chain,” Miller said in his closing statement. “The hemp industry may be unique in that we are coming to Congress to ask [you to] please regulate us.”
