Pritzker ‘Passionate’ About New Hemp Regulations, Urges House Approval During Lame Duck

CHICAGO — Ahead of the Illinois legislature’s upcoming lame-duck session, Gov. J.B. Pritzker has thrown his support behind legislation to tighten up regulation of hemp-derived THC products.

House Bill 4293, the Hemp Consumer Products Act, would limit the sale of so-called “intoxicating hemp products” to state-licensed cannabis dispensaries.

Backers say it would close loopholes, protect children from dangerous products and integrate the hemp industry into the state’s existing cannabis regulatory framework — the nation’s first retail marijuana market created by state lawmakers rather than a popular referendum.

Critics contend it would decimate small hemp businesses, eliminate thousands of jobs and unfairly favor politically clouted cannabis corporations while conceding market share to online, out-of-state and black market retailers.

Sponsored by Sen. Kimberly Lightford (D-Hillside), the bill passed the state Senate almost unanimously but stalled in the House. On Friday, Pritzker convened a news conference with Lightford and other supporters of the bipartisan proposal.

“There was no opposition, or I can’t remember if there may have been maybe a single ‘no’ vote, maybe,” Lightford said. “So this is something that we highly urge passage of, and we hope that the Speaker of the House will entertain this measure.”

While he stopped short of saying it was his top priority for the lame-duck session, tentatively scheduled from Jan. 2 to Jan. 7, Pritzker said he was “passionate” about getting the bill through the House prior to the Jan. 8 inauguration of the 105th General Assembly.

Emphasizing that Lightford’s legislation stops short of full prohibition of Delta-8 THC products, the governor said he did not believe warnings from the hemp industry that the bill would eliminate thousands of jobs in Illinois.

“I don’t put any stock in those claims. I understand that there are a lot of stores that are selling these products that would not be able to sell these products. I get that part,” Pritzker said, focusing on retailers. “But those are not stores, typically, they’re not stores that are dedicated to this product. There are a few, but mostly these are, as I’ve said before, convenience stores, gas stations and elsewhere.”

Jeremy Dedic, the owner of a Chicago wellness shop Cubbington’s Cabinet, which sells hemp products for people and pets, is worried the bill will put him out of business.

“Almost every single thing we sell would be banned due to components of the bill that were either overlooked, unfinished, or ignored,” said Dedic, a member of the Illinois Healthy Alternatives Association. “We hold the highest of standards and have been pushing for thoughtful regulation since we opened, but HB4293 throws the baby out with the bathwater. It would gut us.”

According to the association, the bill contains “errors and unscientific definitions” that would outlaw most current hemp products, including non-intoxicating full-spectrum CBD, while disenfranchising low-income communities through the “problematic” state cannabis licensing scheme.

The proposed Hemp Consumer Product Act sets Delta-8 THC limits at 0.5 mg per serving or 2 mg per package for non-intoxicating ingestible hemp products and 0.3 percent THC for inhalables. Intoxicating products, which would only be available at one of the state’s 238 licensed dispensaries, can have up to 5 mg THC per serving and no more than 10 mg per package.

As part of his effort to lobby state representatives to adopt the bill, the governor invited to the news conference a pediatrician, who described an increase in the number of children showing up to the emergency room for cannabis-related reasons, as well as a local candy company executive, who emphasized concerns over Delta-8 THC products using packaging designed to mimic his company’s popular snacks.

The trade group that represents Illinois’ cannabis industry issued a statement applauding Pritzker’s call to impose some state control on the “gray market” of hemp-derived THC, which is permitted under federal law.

Tiffany Chappell Ingram, executive director of the Cannabis Business Association of Illinois, said “potentially harmful chemicals” are used to produce Delta-8 THC.

“This is happening outside the structure of the state’s legal cannabis industry, meaning there are no rules or regulations guiding the production or sale of these products — which the Federal Drug Administration warns have not been evaluated for ‘safe use in any context,’” Ingram said in a statement.

“This not only leaves consumers at risk, it also undermines the state’s carefully regulated cannabis market, particularly social equity cannabis license holders who face extensive rules and regulations to operate while those selling intoxicating hemp continue to get off easy,” she added.

Representatives of the Illinois Hemp Business Association said they supported regulation to protect consumers and children from dangerous products disguised as hemp. In a statement, they said they had been “ignored and dismissed” and characterized HB 4293 as a “full-scale ban” on CBD lotions, shampoos, pet care products and other items.

“The legislation would benefit large marijuana corporations at the expense of Illinois residents and the legitimate small businesses that follow federal law, yet does nothing to curb online sales of hemp products to minors from out-of-state companies,” it said. “We agree with the calls to enhance consumer safety, but we must work together to craft thoughtful, targeted regulations that deliver real public health and economic solutions for our state.”

Lightford, the bill’s sponsor and the Senate majority leader, said the bill was a compromise that emerged from negotiations with the cannabis industry, the hemp industry and “other leaders.”

She said requests from the hemp industry were incorporated into the latest version of the proposed Hemp Consumer Products Act, which comes in the form of a “gut-and-replace” amendment to a bill about massage parlor licensing.

“We worked diligently to put forth a bill that protects consumers, helps our cannabis industry flourish, keeps the promise to our social equity communities and doesn’t stifle reputable hemp business establishments,” Lightford said. “The current unregulated market undermines social equity license holders who have long worked to establish a legal, well-regulated business.”

According to Lightford, the new regulations will benefit the Illinois hemp industry in the long run.

“I believe that if they’re regulated like the rest of the market, that they have the same ability to make a significant amount of money and do well in that space,” Lightford said.

“To just circumvent the law is illegal, and they’re harming children. We can’t leave out the fact that they’re functioning right now in an illegal space,” she said.

Under federal law, all cannabis in Illinois is illegal — except the hemp-derived form that the bill would restrict — so it was not clear what Lightford meant by “illegal space.” Any clarification received from her office will be added here.

“So they need to be regulated,” she said, “like all the rest of the industry.”

Earlier: Illinois Cannabis Industry Pushes For Ban On Hemp-Derived Delta-8 THC