Missouri House Committee Again Rejects Hemp Regulation Bill

For the second time this month, a Missouri bill to regulate THC-infused hemp products – which is backed by hemp companies in the state – was voted down in the House General Laws Committee, the Missouri Independent reports. The measure was rejected by the committee in a 1-13 vote on March 4, while the committee voted down the measure 5-7 on March 13 after hemp beverage distributor Steven Busch, who helped draft the measure, emailed committee members asking them to vote against it.

The bill voted down last week was amended from the previous version to include requests sought by the Missouri Hemp Trade Association, including increased sales taxes and self-distribution, but also allowed the continued sale of THC-A flower, which Busch opposed.

“It would really jeopardize the whole industry if they keep trying to push THC-A as hemp. If somebody wants a product like that, they can very easily get it at a dispensary and that’s where it should be obtained.” — Busch to the Independent

Two other hemp regulation bills, backed by the Missouri Cannabis Trade Association, are being considered by the state legislature and have already cleared House and Senate committees, the report says. Those bills seek to ban most intoxicating hemp products from being sold outside of dispensaries; but hemp beverages would only be sold in bard and liquor stores.

Busch told the Independent he would back those bills, which he said “have all the protections” needed for “consumers and businesses in there to make the product safe and properly regulated.” He added that if the bills don’t pass, the state’s hemp industry would “be in no man’s land again.”