The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
Circuit dismissed two lawsuits last week, affirming that "work
in process hemp" exceeding 0.3 percent of THC, known as
"hot hemp," may still be the subject of enforcement by
the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).
Marijuana is currently a Schedule I controlled substance under
the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). See 21 U.S. Code
§ 812.1 The Agriculture Improvement Act (the 2018
Farm Bill) redefined "marihuana" to specifically exclude
hemp. 21 U.S.C. § 802(16)(B)(i) ("The term
'marihuana' does not include. hemp, as defined in section
1639o of Title 7.") Hemp is defined as "the plant
Cannabis sativa L. and any part of that plant, including the seeds
thereof and all derivatives, extracts, cannabinoids, isomers,
acids, salts, and salts of isomers, whether growing or not, with a
delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of not more than 0.3
percent on a dry weight basis." 7 U.S.C. § 1639o(1).
