Minnesota’s Amy Klobuchar, Tina Smith, Ilhan Omar among politicians fighting federal hemp ban

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Minnesota's Amy Klobuchar, Tina Smith, Ilhan Omar among politicians fighting federal hemp ban

Several of Minnesota’s most powerful politicians are vowing to fight to keep THC products on store shelves as the fallout from the surprise federal ban continues.

“Right now, the key is to get people educated about how bad this is,” said Democratic U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar in a new conference on Monday at the Minnesota State Capitol. “I’m not as worried about the [bill] language as about getting political support to get it done.”

Proponents of the ban, which ironically included those who first pushed to legalize hemp last decade, said it was long overdue to close a loophole which they said allows companies to take legal amounts of THC from hemp and turn it into “intoxicating substances” and market it to children.

Dozens of state attorneys general also sent a letter to Congress, including Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, urging lawmakers to tighten the definition of hemp and prevent the sale of the products that contain synthetic cannabinoids like Delta-8.

A last-minute push to table the ban, however, led by Kentucky’s Republican Sen. Rand Paul, was easily defeated. Both Minnesota Sens. Klobuchar and Tina Smith sided with Paul against the ban.

“There was no hearing, no planning,” Klobuchar said about the vote. “People hadn’t heard from their constituents on this. We have a short period of time and our job is to work with Sen. Paul and others, including some Republicans that may have voted one way who are now hearing from their constituents, particularly in Midwest states, and see if we can come up with something.”

Joining the lawmakers on Monday at the Capitol were several small business owners who are clamoring for a bipartisan compromise.

“The most terrifying thing that we have is the people we work with losing their jobs because we can’t afford to keep them on,” said Kevin Hilliard, co-founder of Insight Brewing Company in Minneapolis. “That’s families impacted, groceries that can’t be bought. It’s a high degree of anxiety.”