(The Center Square) – Several bills are raising questions about the sale of hemp products in Tennessee.
Sen. Richard Briggs, R-Knoxville, said Senate Bill 1413 would better regulate the industry but turning it over to the Alcoholic Beverage Commission.
The commission would need 21 additional employees if the bill passes. The bill adds a 1-cent per milligram tax to hemp sales, with 50% going to the Alcoholic Beverage Commission and 50% going to the Department of Transportation for road repair.
“The bottom line, without going any deeper into this, is that you can sort of look at this as being controlled in a very similar way that we do alcohol,” Briggs said. “Just like alcohol, this is an intoxicating substance. Just like alcohol, it can impair you. And just like alcohol, it has to be controlled very well, and we limit where it is sold, and we don’t allow it to be sold to people under the age of 21.”
Some members of the Senate State and Local Government Committee did not seem to be opposed to that part of the bill at a meeting held Tuesday. But a prohibition of the manufacturing, production and sales of hemp or hemp plant parts that exceed 0.10% of THCa concentration was met with many questions.
The General Assembly approved a measure in 2023 allowing a legal limit of 0.3% THCa. The limit went into effect late last year. Members of the hemp industry told the committee while there were some bad actors, most abided by the law. If passed, SB1413 would destroy their industry, they said.
Briggs called the sale of hemp products the “wild west.” His bill would also restrict the sale of hemp products at grocery stores and retailers.
“This bill as it is currently written would by omission take away what has already become a popular and profitable category for some grocers,” said Rob Ikard, president of the Tennessee Grocers and Convenience Store Association. “The reason for that is the popularity of beer is decreasing as the younger generation has a growing interest in lighter beverages without alcohol.”
Some committee members proposed separating the regulatory part of the bill from the ban on products that exceed 0.10% of THCa concentration.
Briggs said he would not agree to a change that would only include allowing the Alcoholic Beverage Commission to regulate the industry.
The real issue is the legalization of recreational marijuana, some members said.
“We are absolutely just kicking the can down the road,” Sen. Adam Love, R- Cleveland, said of a possible vote on recreational marijuana legalization. “It’s coming, whether it’s this year, next year, five years from now.”
Two Nashville Democrats are pushing the issue now. Sen. Heidi Campbell and Rep. Aftyn Behn dubbed a bill filed earlier this month as “Pot for Potholes.” Their bill would have the Department of Agriculture continue regulating the market with 75% of the revenue designated to the Department of Transportation for road repair.
Briggs’s bill passed the committee 6-2 and goes to the Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee for consideration.
