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Tennessee hemp retailers are preparing for significant changes following the release of new rules from the Tennessee Department of Agriculture. The changes stem from 2023 legislation seeking to regulate the hemp industry in Tennessee and tasking the state’s Department of Agriculture with promulgating rules on how to do so. The department’s finalized rules arrived in late September, following a brief period of temporary emergency rules established in June. The official new rules will go into effect on Dec. 26 of this year.
Marijuana is categorized as a Schedule VI controlled substance and is not legal in Tennessee. The production of hemp, however, became federally authorized following the passage of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (also known as the 2018 Farm Bill). While both marijuana and hemp are derived from the cannabis plant, anything that falls at or below a 0.3 percent Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) threshold is considered hemp. Cannabis with a Delta-9-THC content above that threshold is considered marijuana. The distinction allowed a whole industry of hemp-derived products — some of which induce psychoactive effects — to pop up in Tennessee over the past few years. Among the hemp-derived products that have seen a boom are substances containing Delta-8 and THCA, two alternative chemical compounds — or cannabinoids — also found in the plant.
The new law and the agriculture department’s subsequent rules enact a suite of requirements, from licensing and testing to labeling and taxation. Attorney Alex Little of the Hemp Law Group tells the Scene that many people in the industry were generally supportive of statutory regulations that establish things like age limits, packaging requirements and the testing of products for impurities.
One controversial aspect of the new rules effectively bans a whole category of hemp products — specifically burnable THCA products. The new rules now measure the amount of THC after the process of decarboxylation, which includes heating or burning — but the amount of Delta-9-THC can increase after decarboxylation, meaning THCA products can exceed the legal threshold after burning, and therefore retailers will no longer be able to sell it.
“The edibles aren’t generally impacted by this, but the inhalables are,” says Little. “So both thinking about pre-rolls, thinking about smoking pure hemp products or vapes — those have all contained THCA in the past.”
Critics of the new rules worry that certain hemp retailers might have to close their stores or take their businesses to other states now that a significant portion of their products will not be legal to sell. Critics also point to the millions of dollars in potential tax revenue that will no longer be generated by these products.
“The department’s rules are promulgated in accordance with its statutory authority and legislative directives to administer a regulatory program for hemp and hemp-derived cannabinoid products,” a representative from the Tennessee Department of Agriculture tells the Scene, noting that “the department’s rules are consistent with its statutory authority to regulate, not ban, THC and hemp products.”
In response to the new rules, Little has filed petitions with the Tennessee Department of Agriculture on behalf of the Tennessee Growers Coalition and two East Tennessee hemp companies. The petitions challenge certain aspects of the rules — “particularly around the THCA testing rules and around the application of the current rules to raw hemp flower,” says Little.
If the department doesn’t grant those petitions, Little says he and his clients will take the matter to chancery court for litigation.
”}]] New rules from the Tennessee Department of Agriculture limit the distribution of certain hemp products Read More
