Jimmy Patronis backs hemp THC ban, says industry advocates ‘lied’ to create a ‘monster’

One of Florida’s newest members of Congress is backing a surprise move by the federal government to aggressively limit the hemp industry.

U.S. Rep. Jimmy Patronis is defending the continuing resolution to open the government, which includes the hemp language, as a response to an old problem regarding psychoactive hemp legalized in the 2018 Farm Bill.

“Everybody starts to push hemp as a product that’s got all these fantastic purposes, rope and clothing and all this stuff. It was all about getting this extraction of this variation of THC. I mean, so it wasn’t truly honest and forthcoming with how it got to enter into the marketplace. So I call a strike on that, OK?” Patronis said on News Radio 1620.

“The industry advocates lied when they started because it was all in. And those that were in the know created this monster that we’ve got today.”

While CBD will still be legal, synthesized THC made popular nationally in gummies, vapes, tinctures, and so on would not be. The ban also extends to THCA, the precursor to THC that transforms into the illicit compound upon combustion.

For Patronis, it’s a matter of morality.

“I think this is where Congress finally came back and said, ‘You know what? Right is right and wrong is wrong. If you want to be forthright, then let’s go through the same process that the medical marijuana companies have to go through.’ So I think that’s just a level of just transparency and just righting the ship of where they had some problems with previous policy,” Patronis said.

Medical marijuana, meanwhile, continues to deal with headwinds in Washington and Tallahassee.

In the nation’s capital, industry advocates and patients have waited on rescheduling during the administrations of President Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

While the suspense has driven volatility in equity markets, the policy stasis has frustrated those waiting for the federal government to resolve ambiguities in status.

In Florida’s capital, recreational marijuana legalization has met continued resistance from the Gov. Ron DeSantis administration, which devoted state resources, including money from a Medicaid settlement, to defeat an amendment in 2024 that would have legalized recreational pot.

While a similar measure is being floated for next year’s ballot, the administration has questioned whether signatures to get the pot push in front of voters are legitimate.