Who?
Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH) — Co-chair, Congressional Cannabis Caucus
LISTEN: Laslo & Joyce
Ask a Pol asks:
Did you hear about the new bill from Rep. Andy Harris that would make hemp products with small, if “quantifiable,” amounts of THC in it illegal?
Key Joyce:
“No,” Rep. Dave Joyce exclusively tells Ask a Pol. “Look, that has been the stepping stone for the gas station delivery of intoxicants, whether that's hemp or chemically manufactured Kratom or whatever all that other sh*t is that they sell at gas stations. And there's no age limit on that.”
ICYMI — Find Ask a Pol on YouTube, TikTok or Instagram!
Cannabis Caucus looking to industry for guidance?
So you think there was a flaw in the 2018 bill legalizing hemp — Congress should have been more precise initially?
“Right. So you’ve heard complaints coming from the regular cannabis industry, because they have strict standards that they have to meet everywhere, and yet this industry has flourished,” Joyce said. “It's cannabis.”
Caught our ear:
“I'm all for regulating the industry,” Joyce tells us. “It has to be regulated so that only adults are getting it.”
Below find a rough transcript of Ask a Pol’s exclusive interview with Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH), slightly edited for clarity.
ICYMI — Joyce interview first sold to Marijuana Moment*
*Ask a Pol founder Matt Laslo runs regionally-focused national wire service, The LCB
TRANSCRIPT: Rep. Dave Joyce (6-6-2025)
SCENE: Rep. Dave Joyce wraps up an interview with a Wall Street Journal reporter while standing in the sun on a brutally humid day in the Swamp. Ask a Pol’s Matt Laslo waits in the shady wings.
Once they wrap their chat, Laslo invites the Cannabis Caucus Co-chair to join Ask a Pol under the shade of a nearby tree…
WSJ reporter: “Thank you. Bye.”
Matt Laslo: “Why are you in the sun? Get in the shade.”
Dave Joyce: “Alright.”
They laugh.
ML: “We’re too old for this sh*t.”
They enter the shade of a nearby tree.
ML: “Did you hear about the Andy Harris hemp bill?”
DJ: “No.”
Joyce laughs.
ML: “He just dropped it yesterday from his perch as…”
DJ: “Ag.”
ML: “…cardinal on Ag.”*
*In Washington, ‘Cardinals’ refers to Appropriations — or spending — Subcommittee Chairs. Andy Harris chairs the AppropriationsAgriculture Subcommittee.
SUBSCRIBER-ONLY CONTENT*
ML: “It would, basically, make any, like, these…”
DJ: “He did something similar [last year], right?"
ML: “…hemp products that have any level of THC, it Ould make them illegal. What do you make of that?”
DJ: “Look, that has been the stepping stone for the gas station delivery of intoxicants, whether that's hemp or chemically manufactured Kratom or whatever all that other sh*t is that they sell at gas stations.”
ML: “Yeah?”
DJ: “And there's no age limit on that.”
ML: “Yeah?”
DJ: “So you’ve heard complaints coming from the regular cannabis industry, because they, you know, have strict standards that they have to meet everywhere, and yet this industry has flourished under that [20]18 amendment to the Ag. bill.”
ML: “Yeah? So you think there was a flaw? You guys should have been more precise initially?”
DJ: “Right."
ML: “Yeah.”
DJ: “I think it's being exacerbated by people, you know, because there's some allegations that, you know — it's cannabis.”
ML: “Yeah?”
DJ: “Right? It's not hemp anymore. People doing — like a guy in Ohio was telling me, ‘I can't sell pre-rolls, but they're selling them at the gas station.’”
ML: “Oh, intersting.”
DJ: “And the highschoolers are getting out, walking right over there and buying them and smoking em in the parking lot.”
ML: “And they so, I guess the language is, ‘if there's a quantifiable amount of THC’ it would be illegal. That's not quite how the plant works, right?”
DJ: “Right.”
ML: “Think you might have to talk to Mr. Harris?”
Joyce laughs.
DJ: “Well, you know, if it’s — I’ll give you an idea, when I’m in Ohio. I know the governor hates it — [Gov. Mike] DeWine — and I called him and I said, ‘Look, you know, I've been on this stuff and I know you hate it…’”
Laslo makes the universal joint symbol with his fingers.
ML: “Been on this stuff?”
Joyce laughs.
DJ: “Working on the problem.”
Laslo laughs.
DJ: “But as I told him, I said, ‘that is the problem.’ That's the gas station stuff the kids are getting that all these people are up in arms about.”
ML: “Yeah?”
DJ: “And so it's getting — and he's been taking the fight to him to them to trying to outlaw that in Ohio, at least the sale inside, ake it at least if you're gonna sell anything with THC that has to come back inside the cannabis stores.”
ML: “Interesting. So you do see this as a loophole that Congress should address?”
DJ: “Yeah.”
ML: “But you're a little wary of Harris' sweeping approach?”
DJ: “I haven’t heard it yet. No, I just haven’t heard it.”
Laslo reads exact bill language from his notebook.
ML: “But ‘any quantifiable amount’?”
DJ: “Let me read the bill.”
ML: “Yeah.”
DJ: “Because he put in something last year — I don’t know whether it was an amendment or a bill — that, you know, was a cause for concern for the industry as a whole. I'm all for regulating the industry.”
ML: “Yeah.”
DJ: “I just don't think that — you know, it has to be regulated so that only adults are getting it.”
ML: “Yeah.”
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