6:00 p.m. In a 7 (yes) 1 (no) 3 (abstain) vote, the Kentucky Senate Licensing & Occupations Committee has passed Senate Bill 202, placing a moratorium on hemp beverages in Kentucky.
5:50 p.m. Senator Julie Raque Adams from Louisville ended arguments by saying that it is “difficult to get to the right decision.”
Senator Cassie Chambers Armstrong said she would abstain from voting on March 5.
5:35 p.m. Jim Higdon, owner of Cornbread Hemp, argued against the prohibition of hemp drinks.
“These products are regulated by that Cabinet,” he said of the hemp drinks that could be banned in Kentucky today. “Relative to the testing of the beverages, we discovered this ourselves. For the past years, we have invested over 1 million dollars to rectify that.”
According to him, the cannabinoids stuck to the sides of the cans, which impacted testing.
He also asked the committee to get an extension as to not “kill our growth.”
5:30 p.m. “It’ll shut down their revenue stream, and they’ll go out of business,” said Senator Meredith. “Prohibition never works. It criminalizes the good players.”
Currently, there is ongoing debate between members about the effects of the hemp drinks.
Rep. Matthew Koch added that there were “errors” based on the milligrams of THC in each can where someone could drink two different cans and get two different levels of “intoxication.”
4:45 p.m. The Kentucky Senate Licensing & Occupations Committee will not vote on the bill until adjournment of the House of Representatives.
The Kentucky Senate Licensing & Occupations Committee is scheduled to vote today on a measure that would instantly forbid all hemp-derived drinks in the state. The Capitol annex is the scheduled vote on Senate Bill 202 (SB 202).
Introduced with less than 24 hours’ notice, the amended language of the bill would forbid the sale of hemp-derived beverages, including THC seltzers, until at least July 1, 2026. Originally a small technical adjustment to a statute, SB 202 became a general ban thanks to last-minute changes.
Owner of Kentucky-based Cornbread Hemp Jim Higdon claims the abrupt change threatens his company’s $1.2 million investment in a new hemp beverage set for introduction in April.
“We have spent over $1 million on this beverage launch and, with less than 24 hours’ notice, they are billing us that would make it impossible for us to recoup that investment,” Higdon said.
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Cornbread Hemp Expands Louisville Operations With $1 Million Investment, Adding 50 Jobs
Hemp beverages have been lawfully sold in Kentucky for two years, largely in liquor stores to customers 21 and older. Under a bill enacted overwhelmingly in 2023, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS) was given authority to regulate the business, including product testing, labeling and sales limits.
Higdon remains adamant that the industry will battle against the bill’s passing.
“This is a manufactured emergency generated by special interests trying to keep Kentucky in the past,” Higdon added. “We will fight this until the last day of the session.”
This article appears in Feb 28 – Mar 6, 2025.
