Tighter restrictions on THC products have cost Tennessee more than $54 million dollars in tax revenue. The state has only collected 3% of what it had anticipated from a new hemp tax.
Last year, state lawmakers approved both the new tax and a ban on THCA, a type of THC that was legalized nationwide in 2018 through a loophole in the Farm Bill. That meant an end to the hemp industry’s most profitable products, like smokable flower and full-spectrum CBD. Many businesses had to close or move across state lines to continue growing.
The ban, initially intended to take effect at the start of the year, was delayed until this summer to give growers and sellers more time to shift their business models…