Iowa bill would limit legal cannabis product potency

DES MOINES — Hemp-derived cannabis products in Iowa would be significantly limited in their potency under a bill Iowa House lawmakers passed on Tuesday.

The bill would place several regulations on “consumable hemp” products, that were legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill and later the Iowa Hemp Act. The laws allow for the sale of hemp products that contain less than 0.3 percent THC by weight. THC is the main chemical in marijuana that causes the “high.”

While the law was intended to address low-potency CBD sales, it also legalized the sale of hemp-derived THC products that have a similar psychoactive effect to traditional marijuana.

House File 2605, amended on the floor before passage on Tuesday, would set a limit of 4 milligrams of THC per serving and 10 milligrams per package on consumable hemp products sold in the state.

While there is no limit on the concentration of hemp-derived THC products sold in the state, they generally range from 5 to 10 milligrams per serving.

The bill would ban the use of consumable hemp — including non-psychoactive CBD — by minors and ban the sale of the products to minors. It would also ban the sale of synthetic THC and require a warning label to be attached to consumable hemp products.

It also would create criminal and civil penalties for selling consumable hemp products without first registering with the state. The state Department of Health and Human Services would be allowed to confiscate products from retailers found to be in violation of the law.

The bill passed the House 79-16, with four Republicans and 12 Democrats voting against the proposal. A companion bill has passed a committee in the Senate and is eligible for consideration by the full chamber.

‘Wild West’ industry

A retail industry around THC products derived from legal hemp has burgeoned over the last six years since the federal and state hemp laws were passed. The products are available for sale in stores across the state, and companies like Iowa’s Climbing Kites are manufacturing their own THC drinks.

Rep. Steve Holt, R-Denison, who managed the bill, said lawmakers never intended to legalize intoxicating products when they passed the Iowa Hemp Act. He said the industry is a “Wild West” without regulations and the bill would close unintended loopholes.

“In the legislation we passed, there were no provisions for age requirements, precisely because we did not believe, or have any idea, that there would be a need, since we had limited the THC,” he said. “We were not approving THC to be used in intoxicating products or we would have had age restrictions.”

Pointing to studies on youth use of cannabis, Holt argued that the bill would protect the health of Iowans.

State Rep. Bob Kressig, D-Cedar Falls who opposed the bill, said during floor debate Tuesday that the bill would kneecap Iowa’s hemp industry and lead to businesses closing and Iowans losing jobs. He also argued that some people use CBD and other products for medical purposes outside the state’s medical cannabis program.

Kressig said he supports limiting the sale of the products to minors but would like to have seen a higher THC limit on products.

“The harm that we’re going to do today to an industry that has employees, that makes money and pays taxes to the state, I think, is going to be a mistake,” he said.

Comments: cmccullough@qctimes.com