Washington, DC—Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) condemns legislation introduced by Reps. Morgan Griffith (VA) and Marc Veasey (TX): the Hemp Enforcement, Modernization, and Protection (HEMP) Act.
“Make no mistake: This is simply an attempt at backdoor marijuana legalization,” said SAM CEO Kevin Sabet. “Again and again, we hear the same argument: that we can somehow regulate our way to safety around these dangerous drugs. The Griffith bill is yet another attempt to put that over at the federal level, with all that implies.”
“And it’s just as destined for disaster as the state-level efforts that have come before it. The data prove there is no safe way to regulate and commercialize intoxicating hemp products. Not in Ohio, where edibles have driven a hospitalization crisis among kids under 5. Not in Texas, where legal hemp-THC sent poison-control incidents for kids skyrocketing. Not in Kentucky, where the hemp disaster is crashing over young and old alike.
“Worse, a federal regulatory framework for hemp-derived products is a backdoor to the full federal legalization of marijuana (despite the window dressing in the draft around the specific issue of marijuana). This is the thin end of the wedge, in other words.
“Congress and the American people banned hemp THC and have repeatedly beaten back federal marijuana legalization. This bill is an attempted end run around both of these decisions. Anyone interested in preserving public health, especially amid the powerful normalization signals sent by the current administration’s rescheduling directive, must push back against it—hard.”
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