Hemp Bill Backed By Big Cannabis, Governor Fails In Illinois House In Lame-Duck Session

SPRINGFIELD, IL — A proposal to impose a series of new regulations on hemp-derived THC products failed to pass the 103rd Illinois General Assembly in the final day of its lame-duck legislative session.

Backed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the lobby for the state-regulated but federally illegal cannabis industry, the bill faced opposition from the hemp-derived and CBD product industry, which is federally legal but largely unregulated at a state and local level.

The Hemp Consumer Products Act passed the state Senate 54-1 in May but faced opposition from a minority of the Democratic supermajority in the House.

“Certainly what happened with regard to the hemp bill is potentially a demonstration of challenges that the House will have in organizing to overcome some of the challenges we’re going to face this spring,” Pritzker said Tuesday at a news conference.

The legislation aimed to regulate “intoxicating hemp products” with Delta-8 THC by limiting sales to state-licensed cannabis dispensaries and banning synthetic THC production and mandating age restrictions, testing and labeling requirements.

Proponents argued the legislation was necessary to protect public safety and counteract the unregulated sale of potent and deceptively labeled THC products, often offered for sale at convenience stores and gas stations. Meanwhile, opponents contended the bill favored Illinois’ established cannabis industry at the expense of small hemp businesses.

After the governor identified the bill as a priority for the lame-duck session, he described its failure to garner support from the 60 Democratic state representatives required by House Speaker Chris Welch for a floor vote as a “tragedy.”

Had it been called for a vote, it would have passed with a bipartisan supermajority, and not calling for it was “irresponsible,” Pritzker said.

“This is, from my perspective, a demonstration of the power of special interests and the money that they spread around to thwart health and safety of the public. This was the choice by a number of people to go for profits over people, and I was disappointed to see that,” he said.

Tiffany Chappelle Ingram, the executive director of the trade group Cannabis Business Association of Illinois, argued last month on WTTW’s “Chicago Tonight” that the hemp-derived product market had been “sort of devastating” for the state’s approximately 240 legal dispensaries, which are subject to strict security, camera and testing requirements.

“All that’s very expensive, plus we pay close to 40 percent in taxation. So, those revenues from cannabis flow to all sorts of things that benefit the state,” Ingram said.

While the governor and cannabis industry lobbyists touted the safety benefits of limiting the children’s access to dangerous intoxicants, opponents of the proposal suggested its broad language would limit non-intoxicating CBD products.

Hemp farmer Justin Ward, the president of the Illinois Healthy Alternatives Association told WTTW the Pritzker and pot industry-backed bill would have been “truly devastating” to the Illinois hemp industry.

“This bill would put us out of business immediately,” Ward said. “It would limit access to consumers who rely on these products.”

Craig Katz, the board secretary of the hemp-related business trade group issued a statement Tuesday thanking state lawmakers for preventing the passage of House Bill 4293.

“We are encouraged that legislators are committed to crafting policies that strike a fair balance between protecting public interests and supporting small businesses, which are majority minority and women-owned. We stand ready and eager to collaborate with lawmakers and stakeholders to develop a regulatory framework that considers everyone,” Katz said.

Katz called for immediate implementation of a law to limit the sale of hemp products to those aged 21 and over before working out the rest of the regulatory details.

“Protecting children is a shared priority, and such age-gating legislation can be enacted swiftly to address this concern while broader regulatory measures are discussed,” he said.

“It is disappointing that previous attempts at age-gating legislation have been delayed by the influence of larger industry interests seeking to eliminate competition and prevent shared negotiations. We urge state officials to put children’s safety first by advancing this type of law at the start of the 104th General Assembly.”

The 104th General Assembly is set to be sworn in Wednesday.

It is not clear whether Pritzker would support a bill that restricted the sale of hemp products to minors without handing over the market for Delta-8 THC products to businesses his administration has licensed since legalization of recreational cannabis, which contains the far more psychoactive Delta-9 THC, in Illinois in 2020.

Delta-8 THC and similar substances, derived from hemp via legal loopholes under the 2018 Farm Bill, are available in wide variety of products. Despite their legality, these products remain largely unregulated, prompting health concerns due to inconsistent potency, labeling or contamination.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Tuesday in Normal that it “seems like” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and his staff “don’t have good relationships in Springfield, in part because they don’t do the outreach that’s necessary.” (State of Illinois/via video)

At Tuesday’s press conference, Pritzker said staff from state administrative agencies are owed apologies after they were treated unacceptably by elected officials in a closed-door meeting of Illinois House Democrats.

“They literally were there to answer questions and provide information, and they were berated by people opposed to the bill. They were berated, they were called liars, they were treated extremely poorly,” Pritzker told reporters.

“One of my staff people had to get up and leave because she felt ganged-up upon, and called a liar and pointed at,” he said. “I mean, it was frightening for her.”

Pritzker said he did not believe Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson had much to do with the failure of the bill, despite reports of the mayor’s efforts to lobby lawmakers to reject the bill.

“The mayor had very little to do with the ultimate result, I think,” Pritzker said.

“There was a raucous meeting of the Democratic House Caucus, in which there was a lot of yelling at staff by people who were opposed to the bill that the speaker did not intervene about,” he said. “And you shouldn’t let staff get berated like that, you just shouldn’t.”

Johnson said he and Pritzker were in agreement regarding public safety and keeping “products that could be harmful” away from young people. The