(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds believes the burgeoning market for hemp-infused candies, drinks and other products is taking advantage of the 2018 Farm Bill’s hemp provision. “I had issues with this bill from the beginning. It was never designed to do that, it was the intent of the hemp bill. It was actually another commodity for our farmers. That was actually the intent,” Reynolds says. New regulations on these products begin in July that only allow people who are 21 and older to buy the hemp infused items. And the state will restrict the potency of these products to four milligrams of T-H-C per serving or ten milligrams per container.

Reynolds visited Alcohol & Drug Dependency Services of Southeast Iowa in Keokuk, and says the state regulations address the issues that the Farm Bill didn’t. “It didn’t deal with minors and their access to T-H-C. This mixing T-H-C with alcohol. That’s a dangerous combination. I’m at a recovery center and we want to make sure people are informed,” she says.

Hemp infused products (IPR photo)

Two Iowa companies which make the hemp infused products are suing the state over the new regulations. The lawsuit says the regulations would criminalize 80 percent of their current inventories. Neither company sells products that mix T-H-C and alcohol.