Eagle Forum of Alabama Applauds Senate Vote to Protect Families from Dangerous Intoxicating Hemp Products
“This is an enormous win for public health and for the safety of our children”—Becky Gerritson
From Becky Gerritson, Executive Director, Eagle Forum of Alabama
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Monday, in a bipartisan vote, the U.S. Senate advanced critical language to ban intoxicating hemp-derived drugs such as Delta-8 THC, finally moving to close the loophole created by the 2018 Farm Bill. An amendment offered by Senator Rand Paul, designed to strip this protective provision was rejected, allowing the ban to remain in the underlying bill.
For years, Eagle Forum of Alabama has warned state lawmakers, agencies, and families that unregulated intoxicating hemp products like Delta-8, Delta-10, THC-P, and other synthetics—have been marketed to Alabama children, sold in gas stations, and linked to child poisonings, psychosis, violent behavior, and emergency room visits across the state.
As Eagle Forum emphasized during Alabama’s legislative debates this spring, these products have never been approved, tested, or regulated. Instead, they exploit a federal drafting error, not legitimate agriculture. Alabama news outlets have documented the surge of these products, the spike in youth hospitalizations, and repeated pleas from law enforcement, pleas that too often have been drowned out by out-of-state hemp-industry lobbyists.
Yesterday, the U.S. Senate did what Alabama families have been pleading for: shut down the loophole allowing chemically altered intoxicants to masquerade as “hemp” and be sold like candy.
“This is an enormous win for public health and for the safety of our children,” said Becky Gerritson, Executive Director of Eagle Forum of Alabama. “For too long, these dangerous products have sat openly on store shelves targeting teens, harming kids, and blindsiding parents. Closing the loophole in federal law is essential, and I applaud the senators who stood firm against Big Hemp’s misinformation campaign.”
Earlier this year, in hopes of fully eliminating these intoxicating, psychoactive THC products from Alabama communities, Eagle Forum of Alabama drafted and offered protective language for the Senate version of Alabama’s hemp reform bill, HB445. This language ensured that, if the federal loophole were ever closed, Alabama law would automatically align with federal protections. This federal action means Alabama is now positioned to follow suit and finally remove these dangerous products from store shelves.
The Senate’s vote makes clear just how necessary this reform is. If even Senator Rand Paul, long regarded as the hemp industry’s most reliable ally, could not persuade his colleagues to block the ban, it is because lawmakers on both sides of the aisle recognize the realworld harm these products are causing in communities across America.
Eagle Forum of Alabama also extends sincere appreciation to Rep. Mary Miller (IL) for her years of dedicated work proposing amendments to close the 2018 Farm Bill loophole. Her efforts have been instrumental in advancing protections that remove intoxicating, unregulated products from store shelves that were never intended to be legalized under the original 2018 Farm Bill.
With both chambers now having acted, we are encouraged that Congress has chosen to put the safety of American families first. We fully expect this protective language to remain intact as the legislation moves to the President’s desk. These reforms are long overdue, and we urge President Trump to swiftly sign the bill into law. Protecting children from dangerous, intoxicating hemp products must remain a public-health non-negotiable.
For more information, go to www.AlabamaEagle.org or follow Eagle Forum of Alabama on Facebook.
