NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – Changes could be coming to who can legally buy hemp and CBD.
Hemp has 0.3-percent THC, the psychoactive ingredient found in marijuana.
At On Track Market on Gallatin Pike, you can find CBD gummies, shots, even smokable hemp.
It’s what owner Beshoy Soliman considers medicinal good he said he wants to share with others, but he has one exception.
“We don’t like to do, let some kid buy cigarettes, alcohol, or hemp products,” said Soliman. “We check ID before we do anything, even before let them touch the products.”
Currently, minors can walk through the doors of a retailer and legally purchase hemp or CBD, with any restriction is up to the vendor.
But a bill being drafted would forbid the sale of any smokable hemp product to a minor under the age of 18.
“We know smoking isn’t healthy. However, smoking is legal, but it’s an adult choice to smoke,” said Joe Kirkpatrick, President of the Tennessee Hemp Industries Association.
Kirkpatrick, a hemp farmer himself growing in conjunction with Everveg, is working alongside state senator Frank Niceley on the legislation.
Vendors would be required to see proof of ID.
“Civil and criminal penalities should be applicable to any retailer that doesn’t follow the law,” said Kirkpatrick. “Same laws that apply to tobacco smoking.”
Although Nicely championed legalizing hemp farming in Tennessee, he said it’s difficult to foresee every issue that may arise, but this is a necessary change, one Kirkpatrick said he hopes will also change attitudes.
“The goal of all of this is to normalize the use of cannabis products that are good for you,” said Kirkpatrick.
Niceley said the bill will likely be ready to be introduced to the legislature in about three weeks.