New Bipartisan Bill Would Regulate Intoxicating Hemp Products in Wisconsin

By Rich Kremer

A bipartisan group of state lawmakers is backing a bill to regulate intoxicating hemp products in Wisconsin, a move one industry activist says would protect farmers from a newly enacted federal ban.

The legislation introduced by state Sen. Patrick Testin, R-Stevens Point, is cosponsored by a group of five Republicans and four Democrats in the state Assembly. It would prohibit anyone under 21 from buying hemp products containing variants of THC that make consumers high. It would also require hemp growers to get their crops tested by independent labs and mandate that hemp products be sold in child-resistant packaging.

Testin did not immediately respond to a request for comment on his bill.

Jay Selthofner, a longtime advocate for marijuana legalization in Wisconsin, told WPR Testin’s bill is based on concerns about how Wisconsin farmers would be affected by a federal ban on hemp products with more than 0.4 mg of THC. The ban was slipped into the short-term funding bill that reopened the federal government in November.

“So, they’re really trying to protect us from the federal ban and create a program for hemp,” said Selthofner, who owns Heritage Hemp Farm in Ripon.

The Wisconsin bill doesn’t mention the federal ban, but Selthofner said by creating a state regulatory program for intoxicating hemp products, it would in effect shield growers, distributors and retailers.