Politics
Hemp Isn’t A Loophole—It’s A Legal Industry, And It’s Under Attack (Op-Ed)
“What this will do is put consumers at risk, rob municipalities and states from taxable revenue and ultimately hurt farmers nationwide.”
By Adam Stettner, FundCanna
Congress just did something incredibly shortsighted. They slipped a massive policy change into a budget deal and erroneously called it “public safety.”
If the change holds, it will wipe out a $28+ billion market, kill roughly 300,000 jobs and erase one of the best functioning national pathways we currently have toward safe, sensible cannabis reform and regulation. A great example of government burning down a house to kill a spider.
This isn’t policymaking. It is an example of underhanded politics being used to reverse the 2018 Farm Bill and kill an industry without the courage to address it head-on.
The Straw Man: “Unregulated hemp is dangerous, so we need a blanket ban.”
Proponents of the change argued that hemp-derived intoxicants like Delta-8 THC are a public health threat. That they’re sold to kids. That they’re untested. That they slipped through a loophole in the 2018 Farm Bill.
While there are some elements of truth in their arguments, this isn’t representative of the whole truth.
In short, that narrative is written to support blanket prohibition. Every industry has bad actors, companies and people that game the system. Instead of destroying an entire industry to rid yourself of the bad actors, you analyze the problem, determine the underlying issue and use logic and the law to create, regulate and enforce structure.
That is not what Congress did.
Leading this charge is Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who appears to be trying to clean up what he sees as a legislative mess he authored. Back in 2018, he championed the Farm Bill that legalized hemp. Today, he argues that this law unintentionally unleashed an unregulated floodgate of what he calls “gas station cannabis” and that the only solution is to shut down the entire industry.
The correct solution? A framework that includes max potency, lab testing, package size, distribution guidelines, age gating and the structure to enforce the above. All of which would address the buzzword concerns about “gas station hemp” and danger to kids.
In short, I am supportive of regulation. This isn’t regulation. It’s eradication.
The Reality: This is a Legal, Licensed, Thriving, Job-Creating Industry
The 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp. That law was written, passed and signed by Congress and President Donald Trump, who himself has since endorsed the benefits of CBD and cannabinoids and affirmed that cannabis policy should be left to the states.
In the years since, an entire market has grown around hemp-derived cannabinoids. Manufacturers, retailers and financial partners have invested hundreds of millions in building compliant, taxpaying, job-creating businesses.
Cannabis entrepreneurs have built legitimate, highly regulated businesses that now employ hundreds of thousands of Americans. Their success depends not on speculation but on sustainable business models, sound financial management and steady access to capital—the same fundamentals that drive growth in any emerging industry.
The new provisions prohibit products with more than 0.4mg of THC per container. If upheld, that would eliminate 95 percent of the hemp-derived market, according to industry estimates. And it would do so without a single hearing or public comment period—driving an industry begging for regulation underground.
What this will do is put consumers at risk, rob municipalities and states from taxable revenue and ultimately hurt farmers nationwide. It will drive cultivation, production and manufacturing to the black market like it has done with every other instance of prohibition or haphazard legal structure.
One just has to look at the state legal cannabis market still operating under federal prohibition to see a legal market that has grown to $35 billion but at the same time, fueled an illicit market that is estimated to be north of $100 billion.
Prohibition does not work. Half-baked structures and scattershot laws without clear framework, understanding of basic economic principals and lacking regulation/enforcement do not work.
“This Is Just the Beginning”? Let’s Not Invent Ghosts
Some in the broader cannabis industry fear this is a stalking horse for future attacks on legal THC. That paranoia is understandable, but wrong.
This is not part of a coordinated federal crackdown. It’s a misguided, last-minute attempt to solve a real consumer safety concern using the wrong tool. The cannabis industry’s maturity will be defined by its ability to differentiate good policy from bad process. This is the latter.
Every part of the plant, no matter the label, needs logic, science back education, data, debate and reasonable and thoughtful regulation.
Want Safety? Regulate, Don’t Annihilate
Intoxicating products should be tested, sales should be restricted to adults, packaging and potency should be clearly labeled. That’s called regulation.
We regulate alcohol, tobacco and caffeine. We regulate thousands of other industries. What we do not do is ban entire industries through fine print in budget bills.
If Congress wants to fix the flaws in the Farm Bill, then hold hearings. Invite scientists. Ask the Food and Drug Administration to lead. Bring industry leaders to the table. What we don’t need is a stealth policy reversal that’s shoe-horned into a spending bill with no public debate.
Over decades, prohibition brought us figures like Al Capone and El Chapo, and created drug trafficking from all corners of the world. It leads to crime, money laundering, lost lives—and is all unnecessary. What will prohibition create in this instance? One can only imagine.
Despite scientifically being more dangerous than cannabis, regulated alcohol and tobacco industries today employ millions, generate billions in sales and most critically, offer consumers safer, standardized products through proper oversight. Yet we continue to vilify and prohibit rather than regulate.
The Financial Consequences Are Real
Ban hemp, and you don’t just eliminate “gas station” hemp.
You kill an entire industry, even the good parts. You eliminate hundreds of thousands of jobs. You wipe out tax revenues federally and at the state and municipal level. You remove $30 billion from the economy instantly and push that money to illicit channels instead. You deliver the product you have outlawed directly into the hands of children and those you claim you want to protect. Removing jobs and the opportunity for regulation, oversight, safer product and age gating in the process.
Banning the industry doesn’t protect consumers, rather it punishes law abiding, responsible business owners who are open to regulation and oversight.
The cannabis sector doesn’t want a free pass, but it deserves fair and responsible regulation. That begins with policymaking that is deliberate, transparent and informed by the people doing the work on the ground.
Congress, your actions have created a problem that is much larger than the problem you sought to fix. If you want to keep our children safe and support our farmers and industry, do it the right way by regulating with logic. There is a way to have it all, this isn’t it.
Adam Stettner, CEO of FundCanna, has has overseen more than $20 billion in lending across underserved markets.
Photo courtesy of Max Jackson.
