A proposal to do away with edible hemp products in Louisiana has fizzled in the Legislature, sparing an industry that has blossomed since bungled legislation legalized it two years ago.

On the House floor Friday, members attempted to find a happy medium on Senate Bill 237 by Sen. Thomas Pressly, R-Shreveport, which would have led to the demise of some 2,000 hemp-related businesses that have taken root in Louisiana since 2022. 

Rep. Laurie Schlegel, R-Metairie, offered compromise amendments to the Pressly bill that would have required all intoxicating ingredients be taken out of hemp products. Prevailing arguments were made in support of jobs and companies the hemp industry has spawned in Louisiana.

“I know there are a lot of you in this room who smoke weed, who ingest weed,” Rep. Mandie Landry, D-New Orleans, said in opposition to Schegel’s amendments. “If you don’t vote against this, I think you’re being a huge hypocrite.”

The amendments failed, 39-60, and Pressly’s bill foundered without being brought up for a House vote.

Later Friday on the Senate side, members approved House Bill 952 by Rep. Dustin Miller, D-Opelousas, which would place several restrictions on the types of consumable products that can contain hemp and the amount per serving of THC, the same psychoactive compound found in marijuana that gets users high.

Intoxicating hemp-infused beverages would no longer be served at bars and restaurants, and hemp gummies and other snacks would be limited to 5 mg of THC per serving size, down from 8 mg. 

Hemp products have become readily available in Louisiana, but Senate amendments to Miller’s bill would prohibit their sale at convenience stores and gas stations. They would still be available at truck stops, however. 

The Senate approved the updated bill in a 37-1 vote. The House still needs to OK senators’ changes to Miller’s proposal, but Pressly doesn’t intend to revive his bill before the legislative session ends at 6 p.m. Monday.

Calls for stricter regulation of hemp products came from the medical marijuana and alcoholic beverage sectors, which view the fledgling field as a competitor. 

State lawmakers unwittingly approved a bill in 2022 to allow the manufacturing and sale of hemp-derived products. The author of the bill, then-House Speaker Clay Schexnayder, R-French Settlement, had incorrectly assured legislators there wouldn’t be enough THC in hemp gummies, drinks and other edibles to get anyone high. 

Gaps in the legislation permitted makers of hemp edibles to cram multiple servings into their products in order to pack more of a THC punch inside each container or package. 

The hemp industry has also put its scientific expertise to use to make its products more desirable. Manufacturers have found a way to convert cannabidiol (CBD), a separate chemical found in hemp that doesn’t produce a high, into a THC extract using simple chemistry. They then concentrate it into drinks, gummies and other edibles.

BATON ROUGE, La. (KALB) – A bill signed into law on Friday, May 28, amends a current law to regulate cell phone usage in public schools by Louisiana students.

Act No. 313 applies additional restrictions on students and retains the current law prohibiting students from using cell phones while in a public school building, on public school grounds and on school buses.

Act 313, formerly known as Senate Bill 207, requires students to turn off their cellular devices and stow them away from sight until the end of official school hours. Language in the law expands what is considered as a “prohibited device”, to include other telecommunication devices such as pagers, intercoms and any “radio paging service.”

Punishments for ignoring the restrictions in place by the law can be any form of student-based disciplinary action allowed by the school system, including suspension of the student from the school.

State Senator Beth Mizell, the author of the law, claims the law is nothing but beneficial to both students and teachers in the classroom, citing that she has received several supporting testimonies from teachers during committee hearings on the law.

This is one of those rare situations where it’s good for the students and it’s good for the teachers. The ‘Teacher of the Year’ testified in committee, teachers in workforce groups have said this is the biggest distraction that they are fighting against in the classroom. So far this has been done nationally by Utah, Florida, it’s pending in Oklahoma, Vermont, Kansas because it’s an unheard-of situation to control that in the classroom

While the law was under consideration on the Senate floor, Mizell claimed that against all of her expectations, no one during any of the law’s committee hearings expressed concerns about student and general classroom safety.

The safety experts say the worst thing that can happen would be thirty kids all trying to get on their phones in the event that something happens. They’d much rather have the kids listen to the teacher and all follow one set of directions

Act No. 313 was signed into law by Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry on May 28. It went into effect immediately following its signing. More information on the law can be found here.

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