‘It would really be detrimental’: GA hemp businesses worry about new federal THC cap

Frogtown Hemp is an old, family farm in Dahlonega, Georgia, that dates back to 1896.

Due to the recent funding bill that passed through Congress, it might all be in jeopardy.

The legislation that ended the federal government shutdown included a provision that limits hemp products to 0.4 milligrams of THC per package. A typical hemp gummy or beverage contains 2.5 to 10 milligrams of THC, according to Clark Hill News.

Lacey White, one of the owners of Frogtown Hemp, said the new legislation would impact all of their products. The bill has a one-year implementation period, which gives producers a little time to figure out next steps.

“I think it’s really important that we get out there, and we voice our opinions. The supporters, I really find it important that they speak to the Congress and to send out letters and just to speak as much as you can.”

Lacey and her family are stuck in limbo unsure about buying more products that they might not be able to in a year.

“You get benefits from the THC side and the CBD side, and so pretty much to eliminate how little that they want, you’re having to dilute both, and it would really be detrimental to us,” Lacey said.

Georgia has around 4,100 licensed hemp businesses, including farmers, manufacturers, processors, retailers and wholesalers, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Lacey said people should do their research about the products. People have experienced side effects from the synthetic Delta-8 products, and Frogtown doesn’t have those types of synthetic materials in their products.

“Sometimes people will say, ‘How can I get high on your products?’ Well, that’s not what we’re here for. We’re not here for you to get high, we’re here for you to get a benefit,” she said. 

The benefits of hemp

Lacey said their inspiration to move into hemp farming came from their dogs. Their older dogs were getting arthritis, and they were looking at ways to manage their pain without using pharmaceuticals.

“We just started learning a lot of the benefits from CBD, and that really triggered our interest into wanting to grow it and help people,” Lacey said.

Lacey and her dad, Bruce, said they have several customers that reap benefits from using their products.

“We have a client who takes this to help with their tremors from Parkinson’s disease. It helps with pain management, with sleep, sundowners for Alzheimer’s with elderly patients,” she said. “It would be very sad to see our products that we’re getting this good feedback from just all of a sudden not be available.”

Joe Salome, the co-founder of The Georgia Hemp Company, said his first experience with hemp and cannabis products was helping his mom recover from ovarian cancer. 

“We believe, and the doctors believe, that it helped her body heal quicker and faster and recover at a higher rate,” he said.

Synthetic products give a bad rap

Salome said synthetic products started to give the hemp industry a bad reputation.

“Products that weren’t clean, they weren’t coming from reputable distributors or manufacturers, and when that happens, like my dad always said, ‘If you hang out with bad people, you’re going to get grouped in with them,’” he said. “We may not have been hanging out with them, but we’re in the same industry, so at the end of the day, our natural industry is brought down by a synthetic.”

The Georgia Hemp Company takes a community approach to selling the products by talking with customers and seeing their particular needs, but with the new federal bill, they might not be able to continue their business, he said.

“Everything I just described to you about where we came from and what we built on was the ‘why’ of what people needed when they came in here, and it felt really good to be able to do that. That ‘why’ is being taken away at the federal level now with this new bill, potentially wiping out 98% of what we have on our shelves,” he said.

Lacey said she believes the legislature should be more concerned with synthetic products, such as Kratom. Kratom is sold as an unregulated herbal supplement in the U.S. and can have serious side effects, according to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.

“I think we want sensible regulated cannabis… What’s going to happen is a huge vacuum, and if we thought the black market was bad before, it’s going to be even worse moving forward,” Salome said. “I don’t sell Kratom, right? I don’t sell tobacco. I’m not selling alcohol. I’m not a vice store. So I’m not like these other places that are just selling synthetic Kratom or mushroom gummies. That’s not what we do.”

Although CBD is where Salome’s company started, he said that’s not where the industry is currently.

“We have to have hope that the good players in our industry, the national organizations, these big businesses, these brands that you’re seeing at a high level, we’re going to come together and recommend sensible legislation for them to help this industry sustain,” he said.