LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Federal legislation would close a “loophole” that paved the way for gummies, drinks and other cannabis-infused hemp products, including in states like Kentucky and Indiana that haven’t legalized marijuana.

A spending bill that advanced from a Senate committee last week makes clear that hemp can’t have any amount of the psychoactive THC compound. It joins a similar version that already has cleared a House committee.

Kentucky’s burgeoning hemp industry opposes those changes and warns of dire consequences for farmers, producers and retailers if those ultimately become law. In all, hemp businesses in the state account for an estimated annual economic impact of $300 million.

“It would destroy me and hundreds of businesses in Kentucky,” said Joe Boese, owner of Hemptopia on Rudy Lane. “It would put me out of business – 100%.”

The 2018 Farm Bill allowed hemp with low levels of THC, kickstarting a boom of intoxicating hemp products. In authoring the recent change in the U.S. Senate, Kentucky Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell said he wants to return to the “original intent” of the landmark legislation.

“My 2018 farm bill -- hemp bill -- sought to create an agricultural hemp industry, not open the door to the sale of unregulated, intoxicating, lab-made, hemp-derived substances with no safety framework,” he said.

McConnell claimed brands often use “deceptive and predatory marketing towards children with packaging and logos similar to existing food products,” and in a newsletter published this week cited examples of young people inadvertently consuming THC products.

But Katie Moyer, owner of Kentucky Hemp Works and past president of the Kentucky Hemp Association, said McConnell’s remarks amount to “propaganda” that only serves to hurt businesses following the rules already in place.

“We're out here trying to build this industry and to do it the right way, and all we get is propaganda. That's it,” she said. “Those words that came out of his mouth last week -- that's all that was. And he probably believes it, because that's what he's been told.”

Moyer said the “vast majority” of the state’s hemp economy includes products with some level of THC. “We’re throwing the baby out with the bath water,” she added.

While McConnell wants a new hemp definition, U.S. Rep Andy Barr (R-6th District) told WDRB News in an interview that he is "skeptical of this change." Barr is running to succeed McConnell, who is not seeking reelection.

“I think that has worked,” Barr said, referring to the 2018 language, “and it has given birth to this hemp industry that has been a lifeline for some of our burley tobacco producers that lost that line of work.”

Another member of Kentucky’s House delegation, U.S. Rep. Morgan McGarvey (D-3rd), also has expressed concern with amending the federal hemp law.

“The 2018 Farm Bill allowed the hemp industry to take off in Kentucky, and a lot of people created businesses because the United States Congress told them they could,” he said. “To come in and just completely undo it right now, without that sort of input -- I think there's got to be a better way to handle it.”

The growth of THC-infused seltzers in Kentucky prompted state legislators to pass a law this year limiting the amount of mood-altering THC at 5 milligrams in a 12-ounce can. Fairs and festivals can sell the drinks through the end of the year, but they were banned in bars and restaurants.

Speaking in Shepherdsville this week, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul diverged from fellow Republican McConnell and said the proposed changes to federal farm legislation would “kill the hemp industry.”

“This is a billion dollar industry,” Paul said. “Kentucky’s got some of it. It’s lawful. It’s legal. It’s selling things that are useful and the public want.”

“I will do everything I can to keep that language out of the Farm Bill,” he said.

Jonathan Shell, Kentucky’s agriculture commissioner, has publicly opposed the House spending bill, saying it would “criminalize non-intoxicating CBD products in our hemp program.”

The Agriculture Appropriations Federal Spending Bill would need to pass a full vote on the Senate floor and then be reconciled with the House version in conference committee, before any changes would take effect.

"All consumers of hemp products who are relying on hemp products for pain, anxiety, sleep, relaxation, these sorts of things... real people rely on these products and all of that is now at risk," Cornbread Hemp Co-Founder Jim Higdon said. "Every hemp farmer in Kentucky and every hemp business in Kentucky could go out of business."

Higdon recently returned from a trip to Washington, D.C. where he talked with lawmakers about the consequences of the bill. He's urging Kentuckians to make their voices heard on the issue. 

"What's next is really simple," Higdon said. "We've got two bad bills in the House and the Senate and we need to fight them in both places."

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