Two bills pose a terrible threat to Kentucky’s hemp industry and our consumer choice | Opinion
Kentucky’s hemp industry generates $330 million to our economy and employs 3,000 people from border to border, but that revenue and those jobs are in danger of evaporating into thin air.
The proposed Senate Bill 202 and House Bill 775 in Kentucky pose significant threats to Kentucky businesses, the hemp industry and consumers seeking healthier alternatives to alcohol. I have spent the last 15 years working to help Kentucky’s hemp industry develop responsibly, safely, and effectively. I received a US Fulbright Scholarship to study hemp in Canada, have studied the marketplace, the benefits of this product, and then founded Lexington-based Cannabuzz Bar and Dispensary, my own licensed manufacturing and retail services operation. Now this market is under threat, negatively affecting Kentucky businesses, the hemp industry and consumer choice. We need your help to affect change.
SB 202 and HB 775’s restrictive measures are anti-business at a time when we must be pro-business, particularly pro-Kentucky business. The bill places an unreasonable burden on businesses, forcing Kentucky-made hemp beverages to be locked out of national markets while out-of-state manufacturers sell freely. Worse, the bill adds a third regulatory agency to oversee hemp, further straining resources instead of utilizing the existing, nationally recognized regulatory framework already in place under the Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS).
More recently there has been a conscious consumer shift away from alcohol, particularly among younger generations. This shift underscores the growing demand for non-alcoholic alternatives, such as hemp-derived beverages, which offer consumers the ability to relax without the adverse health effects associated with alcohol.
Cannabuzz Bar & Dispensary offers Kentucky Proud products and services that support Kentucky citizens’ right to these alternatives, but SB 202 and HB 775 threaten to undermine this positive shift by imposing restrictive regulations that would devastate small businesses like mine. Currently, nearly 1,600 retailers, many of which are small businesses, are registered to sell hemp-derived products in Kentucky. If SB 202 and HB 775 pass, only alcohol retailers—representing just 20% of current hemp beverage sellers—will be permitted to sell these products. This means consumers seeking healthier alternatives to alcohol would be forced to purchase them in liquor stores, while eliminating 1,400 businesses that currently offer these beverages.
Last, SB 202 and HB 775 cap the strength of these products at an arbitrary limit of 5mg products. This one-size-fits-all approach contradicts FDA guidelines for regulating products by volume, is inconsistent with consumer choice patterns and fails to account for individual tolerance levels and preferences, potentially rendering these products ineffective for many consumers. Such limitations could drive consumers back to alcohol or towards unregulated markets, both of which pose greater health risks.
SB 202 and HB 775 are a misguided proposal that jeopardizes public health initiatives, limits consumer choice, and threatens the livelihood of small business owners. I urge Kentucky legislators to vote NO on SB 202 on HB 775 and instead support regulations that promote health, empower consumers, and sustain our local economies.
Annie Rouse is a University of Kentucky Gatton School graduate in Economics. She holds a Master’s in Policy, and MBA and was a US Fulbright Scholar on hemp. She is the founder of Cannabuzz Bar & Dispensary in the Distillery District in Lexington, KY.