By Margaret Jackson / NewsBreak Denver
(Denver, Colo.) Colorado’s hemp industry is in danger if a bill passes through the legislature.
Colorado Senate Bill 22-205 prohibits the manufacture and sale of an adult-use cannabis product that a registered wholesale food manufacturer does not make.
It also prohibits manufacturing and selling an industrial hemp product that is not made by a registered wholesale food manufacturer.
A public hearing for the bill is set for 1:30 p.m. today in Colorado’s Committee for Business, Labor and Technology.
“Although I support the intent of this bill, vested interests in Big Marijuana seek to destroy the natural, hemp-derived CBD industry,” said Heather Jackson, co-founder of Realm of Caring, a research, education and community-driven nonprofit that supports patients, caregivers, researchers and medical professionals.
Jackson said the consequence for her son Zaki, who relies on CBD, would be catastrophic. CBD has kept him alive and thriving for a decade. He is among tens of thousands of children who depend on safe CBD products for quality of life, said Jackson, who is working to amend the bill.
“Colorado has been a leader and safe haven for patients and policymakers need to understand that nefarious economic interests have no positive place in our lives,” Jackson said.
Jackson said issues with the bill include:
- Limits non-intoxicating hemp extract tinctures to 20 milligrams of total THC per bottle, with criminal penalties for violations
- Requires Colorado CBD manufacturers to destroy their stock of non-intoxicating full-spectrum products that exceed the 20 mg THC package cap — prohibiting them from selling to legal states and potentially imposing criminal and civil penalties
- Does not require scientific analysis when determining whether cannabinoid products are intoxicating, leading to improperly classifying non-intoxicating compounds as adult-use cannabis
- Does not provide a path to protect the retail sale of DBN products that are demonstrably non-intoxicating
- Eliminates the grace period whereby retailers could sell non-intoxicating products that are packaged legally today but would fall outside the new limits, forcing small businesses to destroy intoxicating products that comply with previous regulations
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