ATLANTA – Joe Salome built up his intoxicating hemp products business from one small store to six, and he got licensed by the state last year after new rules gave the industry a path into the sunlight.

Then, in a surprise move, some Republicans in the Georgia Senate tried to slam the brakes in early March, with legislation that sought to pare back the potency allowed in gummies and other consumables — and that also sought a total ban on beverages containing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the intoxicating component from hemp.

It wasn’t altogether unexpected by Salome, who said he always gets apprehensive when lawmakers return to the Capitol.

“Every year during this timeframe we hold our breath,” said Salome, owner of The Georgia Hemp Company. “My daughter’s 10, and now during this time of year it’s, ‘Hey dad, anything else bad happen to your business?’ ”

Products from the hemp industry with the power to intoxicate started proliferating on store shelves after Congress passed legislation in 2018 that distinguished hemp from marijuana, making hemp derivatives legal.

The two plants are the same species, but hemp flowers contain less THC. Clever entrepreneurs were able to develop products from hemp with an intoxicating effect though.

Georgia began licensing hemp-related companies last year, but Senate Bill 254 sought to pump the brakes. It passed the Senate 42-14 in early March, with Republicans and Democrats voting on both sides.

The chief sponsor of the bill, Sen Bill Cowsert, R-Athens, said the dosages appearing on shelves were hazardous.

“We are putting loaded guns in people’s hands in the form of a can, or a gummy, and we need to protect them,” he said.

Cowsert opposed an amendment that sought to go even further, banning beverages containing THC, the intoxicating ingredient from hemp. But after the amendment passed, Cowsert voted for his amended bill.

The amendment was brought by Sen. Randy Robertson, R-Cataula, the chamber’s majority whip, who said, “We are on a bullet train when dealing with marijuana.”

Despite the Senate’s efforts, it appears the train will keep moving, for this year at least.

The Senate measure hit a wall in the House of Representatives, where Rep. Alan Powell, R-Hartwell, said he was reluctant to ban a substance “that God lets grow naturally.”

Powell chairs the House Regulated Industries Committee, where Cowsert’s bill was sent for review. After Cowsert testified for it at a hearing on Wednesday, people from the hemp industry got a chance to talk about the impact the legislation would have on them.

They spoke of the investments they’d made and of the employees they’d have to let go.

Diana Padron, owner of Hemp Haven ATL, talked about older customers who come to her shop looking for an alternative to pain medications or alcohol.

Meanwhile, a representative from a group called Georgians for Responsible Marijuana Policy, spoke of health risks from hemp products, from anxiety to dependency.

That hearing ended without resolution, but the next day Powell called another one, and he introduced his own amendment to SB 254.

Powell’s substituted language deleted all of the Senate’s proposed limits, including the ban on hemp beverages. It would leave the hemp industry in status quo, with one exception. Instead of punching the brakes, the Powell amendment taps the accelerator, by expanding hemp product sales to package stores, where they are currently prohibited.

The amended bill passed from his committee unanimously.

“We’re going to be studying this in depth this summer,” Powell said.

On Friday, Salome was relieved. “We live for another year,” he said.