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The Senate Agriculture Committee is meeting on Thursday to discuss hemp production and related issues.

In the months since hemp and its derivatives were federally legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill, lawmakers and industry stakeholders have made repeated calls to expedite the development of regulations providing for the lawful marketing of hemp products.

The panel is likely to request updates to that end from invited witnesses, which include representatives from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Environmental Protection Agency.

Additionally, members of Congress have raised concerns about access to financial services for hemp businesses, some of which have said that they’ve been denied credit lines and insurance policies due to a lack of guidance from federal regulators. That issue may also come into play during the hearing.

Witnesses in the first panel include USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Greg Ibach, USDA General Counsel Stephen Vaden, FDA Principal Deputy Commissioner of Food and Drugs Amy Abernethy and EPA Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention Assistant Administrator Alexandra Dunn.

The second panel will consist of National Hemp Association Executive Director Erica Stark, Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians Tribal Chairman Darrell Seki and Kentucky farmer Brian Furnish.

Watch the hearing live below:

Thursday’s hearing marks the second congressional cannabis-related meeting of the week after the Senate Banking Committee convened on Tuesday to discuss banking issues in the marijuana industry.

But while few GOP senators attended that meeting, hemp has garnered strong bipartisan support and so this hearing will likely reflect that shared political interest. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has been a particularly vocal proponent of the crop, shepherding his hemp legalization provision to passage as part of the large-scale agriculture legislation that was signed by President Donald Trump in December.

More recently, McConnell led Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on a tour of a Kentucky hemp farm and met with Acting FDA Commissioner Ned Sharpless, advising the official to create a pathway for CBD to be lawfully marketed in food items and dietary supplements. Former Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said that developing such regulations could take years absent congressional action.

FDA said earlier this month that it is speeding up its rulemaking process for CBD, adding that it plans to issue a status update by early fall. USDA, for its part, announced that it is aiming to release an interim final rule for hemp in August and will have regulations in place ahead of the 2020 planting season.

While advocates have cast doubts on interest within the Republican-controlled Senate to pursue broader marijuana reform, banking and hemp are two areas where lawmakers from both parties have expressed support.

Kentucky GOP Congressman Touts ‘High Hemp IQ’ Of His Constituents

Photo courtesy of Pixabay.

The post Watch Live: Second Senate Cannabis Hearing Of The Week Is Underway appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

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