ILLINOIS SENATE BILL 0020 HEMP CONSUMER PRODUCTS ACT

The Illinois SB0020 hemp ban is written in a way that causes confusion about what is or isn’t a hemp or marijuana product. The 2018 farm bill clearly defines the difference between hemp and marijuana as containing no more than 0.3% delta 9 THC on a dry weight basis.

However, Illinois SB0020 would treat any product containing more than 2mg per package as marijuana. Additionally, any hemp product that does not meet the bill’s definition of “Hemp consumer CBD product” would be considered marijuana.

Producing, processing, transporting, and selling of hemp is legal; however, marijuana is still considered a Schedule 1 drug. SB0020 proposes to treat the majority of current hemp products in Illinois as marijuana.

To meet the bill’s definition of a “Hemp consumer CBD product”:

  1. Products made in Illinois would need to be infused with intermediate hemp extracts containing no more than 3mg of THC per gram, which would put nearly all of Illinois hemp processors out of business and be a boon to out-of-state processors.

  2. Hemp products intended for smoking/vaping could not contain more than 0.3% THC, regardless of whether that is delta 9 THC or not. This definition of hemp is in direct conflict of the 2018 farm bill.

  3. Hemp beverages, foods, oils, ointments, tinctures, and topicals, or any other product that is intended for consumption could not contain more than 2mg of THC. This would ban nearly all current hemp products, including full spectrum CBD products.

  4. All hemp products would need to contain at least 50mg of other cannabinoids for every 2mg THC in a package, adding unnecessary burden to any hemp producers who could survive on selling only 2mg THC products and would be willing to be overly-regulated on top of that.

Any current legal hemp products that do no meet this definition of a “Hemp consumer CBD product” would be considered marijuana and would carry criminal and civil penalties. For example, any hemp growers, processors, infusers, or retailers currently possessing more than 2,500 grams of hemp products could be convicted of “marijuana trafficking” and sentenced twice the minimum term of imprisonment for trafficking a schedule 1 substance.

Additionally, any hemp growers, processors, infusers, or retailers currently possessing 2,000-5,000 grams of a non- “Hemp consumer CBD product” would be guilty of a Class 1 felony which carries 4-15 years of imprisonment plus up to $150,000 in fines. Possessing more than 5,000 grams would be a Class X felony which is a minimum of 6 years, including up to $200,000 in fines. Practically all Illinois hemp growers, processors, infusers, and retailers operating as legal hemp businesses would be considered felons under Illinois HB4293.

It’s clear to see, from lessons learned during marijuana prohibition, that criminalization of cannabis is antithetical to public safety and well-being. Do we really want to repeat the same mistakes?