LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — With 100 days until a federal hemp ban is set to take effect, a Louisville hemp company is again warning the new law could force it to shut down and eliminate 105 jobs.
Cornbread Hemp said Tuesday it hopes Congress delays the ban or changes the law before it takes effect Nov. 12. The company has argued for months the measure would hurt Kentucky's hemp industry and make all of its products illegal.
The ban, included in last year's federal government funding bill, caps hemp products at 0.4 milligrams of THC per container. According to Cornbread Hemp, that threshold includes every product it makes and more than 97% of hemp products produced in Kentucky.
Products exceeding the limit would be classified under the same federal drug schedule as heroin, making them illegal under federal law.
"It should not be a crime to find relief through something natural that is better for you than what's out there," Cornbread Hemp CEO Eric Zipperle said Tuesday.
Kentucky leaders, including Sen. Rand Paul, have also criticized the federal ban.
When Cornbread Hemp celebrated a new, state-of-the-art production facility and hemp tourism experience last year, Paul attended the event and criticized the federal ban, calling it an "existential threat to a Kentucky-grown industry."
Now, the Senate is considering a 30-day extension that would delay the ban from Nov. 12 to Dec. 11, which would give lawmakers additional time to negotiate potential changes.
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