New Hampshire is wading into the fight over federal hemp regulation.
Attorney General John Formella urged Congress not to delay the implementation of new hemp reforms that he said would “close a loophole,” signing onto a bipartisan letter to congressional leaders with his counterparts from 34 other states on Wednesday.
President Donald Trump signed a bill last year that is set to change the federal legal definition of hemp and how it’s regulated. Currently, hemp derivatives with less than 0.3% concentration of delta-9 THC — the compound that produces the “high” associated with marijuana — are legal. Come November, only products with a 0.3% total concentration of any THC strains will be legal.
The attorneys general supported the change, saying the current legal definition, adopted in 2018, “led to the proliferation of unregulated intoxicating hemp products throughout the country.”
The U.S. Senate might delay the definition change by a month and potentially overhaul it, as some in the hemp industry push for more comprehensive regulation over outright prohibition, according to Marijuana Moment.
Formella and his counterparts argued the law, as it’s set to go into effect, provides needed clarity and a more “responsible” framework for regulating hemp.
“Congress acted to close a loophole that allowed intoxicating hemp products to enter the marketplace without consistent safety standards or meaningful consumer protections,” Formella said in a statement on Wednesday. “Maintaining this framework will protect consumers, provide certainty for legitimate businesses, and ensure that hemp policy remains focused on lawful, nonintoxicating products.”
Whether or not the change is delayed on a national scale will not derail New Hampshire’s implementation of it, which will go into effect in 2027. Among other states, the New Hampshire legislature passed a law this year, Senate Bill 624, to comply with the planned federal standard and enact an age limit of 21 to buy, possess and use hemp products.
States that have passed this reform already could face lawsuits and inconsistent enforcement of the law if Congress walks back the change in federal law, the attorneys general wrote.
New Hampshire has taken a cautious approach to cannabis. Despite the efforts of Democrats and Libertarians in the House to legalize recreational marijuana, the Granite State remains the only one in New England that prohibits its sale and use.
The state runs a medical marijuana program with nearly 17,000 patients enrolled. In recent years, the legislature has added more symptoms and conditions that make a patient eligible for marijuana as treatment.
The Trump administration recently reclassified marijuana as a less dangerous drug, effectively legitimizing medical programs like New Hampshire’s and providing tax breaks for those retailers.
