Fox News reports House Democrats finally voted Sept. 1 in support of House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) in passing a short-term funding patch, or continuing resolution, which will hinder Democrats from shutting down the government anytime soon.
However, some conservatives are upset because the measure also delayed a ban on hemp products.
Luke Niforatos, executive vice president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), spoke on the “Washington Watch” program about how hemp relates to traditional marijuana.
He referred to it as a loophole in the 2018 Farm Bill.
“Congress wanted to legalize hemp, which was a plant that looks like marijuana but doesn't have THC, the ingredient that gets you high. They wanted it to be there so it could be a crop to be grown for manufacturing and whatever other purposes,” Niforatos stated
According to him, “nefarious elements” learned how to extract dummy marijuana, hemp-derived intoxicants, like Delta-8, Delta-10, THC-0, and many other products that are being heard about right now. He says this is a brand-new class of drugs that look like marijuana.
“They've been proliferating them over the last, whatever it is, seven, eight years that it's been since that loophole came into being. That was never Congress's intention to legalize these drugs. They are getting away with it, and they are being sold over the counter,” Niforatos said.
In 2023, The Wall Street Journal exposed how many of the packaging for these cannabis products look identical to snacks that children would buy, like Doritos and Sour Patch Kids.
These products are easily associable, Niforatos says, because of the legally gray area created by loopholes in the law.
“They are being sold in gas stations and convenience stores,” Niforatos stated. “What we do know is that a child in Virginia died after using one of these products, so they're literally deadly. We know that there's thousands, tens of thousands of kids who are being poisoned by these products across the country right now.”
Last fall, he says, Congress voted to close the loophole and ban these hemp-derived marijuana produces, and it was set to take effect this November. But the hump industry began lobbying Congress and caught the attention of key people in leadership.
“What they just secured and was just voted on today by the House — and the Senate already voted for this — is to delay that ban's implementation into December. So now, the ban on these hemp-derived products goes into effect December 11,” Niforatos said.
He staunchly believed there’s no reason for that delay as the industry selling these drugs are the only ones benefiting.
Francis Dean, founder and president of End Kratom Addiction, also spoke on the program about another plant-based addictive substance that is unregulated in the U.S. known as kratom.
AFN reported previously on this leaf, which grows on trees in Southeast Asia, that is used by the locals.
However, it is dangerous in America because it is produced in mass quantities.
“Kratom, when it is actually metabolizing inside of the body, is converting into an opioid that the FDA says is stronger than morphine. And so, it's highly addictive. It is very dangerous,” Dean said. “And yet, across America, in lots of smoke shops, most all smoke shops, unless you're in a state where it's banned, and lots of convenience stores, and of course online, this is easily accessed by people.”
He started his organization after his son unknowingly got addicted to the product, believing it only to be a plant-based supplement to improve focus and energy.
Niforatos also mentioned a new documentary by Wayfarer Studios called “THC, Inc.” It exposes “the rise of today’s high-potency marijuana industry” and will feature Kevin Sabet, SAM president and CEO.
