The budget bill that ended the shutdown includes a provision dealing with hemp related products.

put the hemp industry out of business.

The U.S.

Hemp Roundtable says the bill threatens to eliminate a $28 billion industry and more than 300,000 jobs.

Former Kentucky Treasurer Jonathan Miller, a Democrat, is also general counsel for the U.S.

Hemp Roundtable.

I spoke to him just a couple of hours ago.

Jonathan Miller, thank you for a little bit of your time.

Thank you for having me.

So the provision, the legislation that reopen the government that President Trump signed last night affects rules for Americans who grow and sell hemp.

Now, Kentucky's U.S.

senators, as we have reported and as you know, are they differ on this issue.

U.S.

Senator Mitch McConnell has said these are dangerous products that should be out of the hands of children.

While Rand Paul says that this provision will actually gut the hemp industry.

Tell us where the U.S.

Hemp Roundtable falls on this and your opinion about this provision?

Well, you never you never would imagine this, but I would I'm sitting on your show saying, I stand with Rand and not only stand with Rand Paul, but a for members of the delegation.

McGarvey bar Comber and Massie also agree with our position, which is this ban would eliminate 95% of hemp products from the marketplace.

It would make it a federal crime to, to buy them.

It would destroy the industry, cripple Kentucky hemp farmers, and deny consumers products that they value for their health and safety, health and wellness.

But that's not the intent that Senator McConnell had with this.

Right?

So where are the wires being crossed?

So, Senator McConnell makes a good point.

Under the current, and under the previous, legislative legislation, there are products that have been sold that, are marketed to kids.

They are, copycat products that look like Cheetos or candy bars, but really have high THC, and some of them are made synthetically or using bad manufacturing practices.

But the way to tackle that is through regulation, not a ban, because what you're doing is you're not only crippling the bad actors, but you're you're cutting the feed out from under the good actors who produce products that help our, our seniors and our veterans and, which are enjoyed by, average Kentuckians across the state.

Is this the final word on this?

Is there a way to cut a different deal that would affect UN, undo the harm that this could have for legitimate good actors and impact only the bad?

Yeah, there's a silver lining.

So the the, the, the compromise was reached that this would not go into effect for a year.

And so we have 365 days to, to regulate, not to ban these products.

And there has been an outcry over the last 48 hours all over the internet.

And I know many politicians have been hearing from their constituents that they do not want these products to be taken away.

A lot of farmers are furious.

They were promised, that they'd have this opportunity to sell these crops in in the middle of a very tough agricultural economy.

It's being taken away from them.

So I really am confident that in the next 12 months we'll be able to fix this.

But why does it take another 12 months to get there?

I mean, was this sentiment not already out there before this vote?

You know, we've been fighting this issue for a couple of years, unfortunately, Senator McConnell is a master tactician, and he was able to take this in a back room without any hearing, without any, any votes on it and, attach it to a must pass bill to reopen the government.

So there is a vote later on the bill.

But the, senators were deciding whether to protect hemp industry or or to let government open into, you know, the Snap benefits and the, the airline delays.

And so he put them in a, a very difficult position.

It was brilliant.

But it is also devastating.

You've got a prop there.

Tell us about this.

And is this going to be something that folks can't get now.

Yeah.

This is something that's made in Louisville.

It's, cornbread, hemp.

CBD.

It is, something you put on your your tongue.

People use it for sleep or for anxiety or for other wellness benefits.

It has a half a milligram of THC in it per serving, per droplet.

It doesn't get you high.

But, you know, seniors and veterans really use this, and average citizens as well use this for their benefits.

This bottle right here, if the law goes into effect a year from now, it would be a federal crime.

It's a schedule one drug narcotic equivalent to fentanyl or to, to heroin.

And, my mother who uses these products, I don't want to be herded.

Considered a fentanyl or heroin addict.

This is something that, average Americans really rely on.

And also, they're the hemp beverages that are so popular all over liquor stores in the state.

They might have 5mg or 10mg.

The average customer is not a teenage stoner.

It's a middle aged woman who is replacing, a glass of wine with, hemp beverage and and, this is these are the types of products that would be considered federal crimes.

And so we're very hopeful over the next 12 months that we'll be able to reverse that, regulate these problems so that, the bad actors are eliminated, but allow farmers to survive, small businesses survive, and consumers to have the products they need.

What kind of criminal penalties could be leveled for possession of such?

It's it's the same as heroin.

Fentanyl.

So it is it would be a crime, under the federal level.

And, you know, big question as to whether they would enforce it.

Right.

But, you know, because of that, it would, really crimp, any, commerce in it and would, hurt a whole lot of people.

And in Kentucky, this is a viable market.

And our Kentucky agricultural ecosystem, Kentucky's the ground zero for hemp.

We not only we're doing this back in the days of Henry Clay, but, it was in Kentucky where Jamie Comber, really took the lead and got to legislation passed in the, in the Kentucky legislature.

And then, ironically, Mitch McConnell took it to the federal level and got, federal support for hemp and for CBD.

And so it's it's really troubling to see, backing off like that in a way that really pulls the rug out from under farmers who have been, relying on this crop.

Yeah, we'll keep our eye on it.

Jonathan Miller, thank you for stopping by to share with us.

Thanks for having me.