Kentucky lawmakers want Congress to redefine the federal definition of hemp.
A state resolution that passed overwhelmingly in the Kentucky House Tuesday asks the federal government to loosen regulations that could require farmers to destroy their hemp crops.
Farmers grew 92 percent of Kentucky’s hemp harvest last year for CBD. It’s a popular compound users claim has medicinal benefits. CBD-rich hemp also has low levels of the intoxicating compound THC, which is found in marijuana.
Hemp must have THC levels below 0.3 percent or else the government can classify it as illegal marijana and require farmers to destroy the crop.
State Representative Richard Heath of Graves County says his resolution would ask Congress to raise the THC limit in hemp to one percent.
“Raising it to 1.0 would allow more farmers to harvest the crop and not destroy it,” the Republican lawmaker said.
Heath hopes the resolution will send a message to Congress that hemp regulations need to be loosened. The 2018 Farm Bill set the current THC limit in hemp.
