SAM CEO Kevin Sabet has an important op-ed in the Louisville Courier Journal about Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and his effort to derail a federal ban on hemp-derived THC.
Rand Paul has taken money from the industry before, it’s key to note. And he seems to have a deep-down love of playing obstructionist for its own sake.
This time he succeeded in the Senate, defeating an appropriations bill that had langauge banning hemp-derived THC in it. Though there’s identical language in a House bill, so Rand Paul hasn’t won yet.
But in this case, the junior senator’s grandstanding amounted to toying with American lives. Per the op-ed:
A new report by the Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center shows that between 2023 and 2024, ER visits for marijuana-related poisonings among Kentuckians under 18 rose 43%.
Hemp-derived THC products are dangerous and addictive; they are marketed in packaging that’s meant to appeal to kids, packaging wrapped around sweet treats likes gummies and candies.
As Kevin notes:
This catastrophe is caused by hemp-THC profiteers putting those candies and gummies in packaging that mimics popular brands of kids’ snacks. The whole industry is taking advantage of something federal lawmakers never intended to happen. Sen. Mitch McConnell led the charge in 2018 to legalize hemp for industrial purposes. Not hooking kids on new drugs.
In other words, addiction profiteers took advantage of a legislative error to sell dangerous and addictive drugs.
No wonder that there’s been spikes in state after state of kids and teens in ERs as well as poison control calls dealing with THC products.
Indeed, as Kevin put it:
Why is Sen. Rand Paul fighting to protect an industry that hurts kids in his state?
You should read the whole piece here.