Politics
Three In Four American Voters Want Hemp To Stay Legal, With Enhanced Regulations, Poll Finds
American voters across the political spectrum are broadly supportive of keeping consumable hemp products legal and implementing certain regulations to ensure public safety and prevent youth access, according to a new poll.
The survey from McLaughlin & Associates, which was commissioned by the Hemp Industry & Farmers of America (HIFA), comes amid increased debate in Congress and state legislatures around the country about how to navigate laws around consumable hemp products, which were federally legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill that President Donald Trump signed in his first term.
Overall, 72 percent of respondents said they want to see hemp maintain its legal status under federal law, along with “new safety and licensing regulations.” Notably, Republicans were most supportive at 77 percent, compared to Democrats (71 percent) and independents (68 percent).
The question posed to voters didn’t simply ask about keeping hemp legal, however, so it’s unclear what percentage back the status quo or are swayed by the possible addition of new regulations. It asked: “Would you support or oppose a federal law continuing to allow the sale and possession of consumable hemp-based products with new safety and licensing regulations to protect children and adult consumers, including age restrictions for adult use only, school free zones, and increased transparency like clear health and warning labels.”
Given that those are generally popular regulatory policies, it’s less surprising that such strong bipartisan majorities would voice support for a legal framework for the cannabis crop.
Asked about the specific regulatory proposals individually, 87 percent said they want child-proof packaging, 86 percent want to limit sales to adults 21 and older, 81 percent said there should be marketing restrictions to prevent appealing to youth and 71 percent said hemp products shouldn’t contain any “unnatural psychoactive substances.
The survey “illustrates big support to pass federal legislation to continue to allow the sale and possession of consumable hemp-based products with new, commonsense safety regulations,” a polling memo says.
Further, the poll found that 55 percent of respondents would be more likely to support a political candidate who voted in favor of maintaining the legal status of hemp with enhanced regulations. That includes 62 percent of Republicans, 53 percent of Democrats and 48 percent of independents.
“Hemp prohibition is detrimental government overreach, plain and simple,” HIFA Executive Director Brian Swensen said in a press release. “The desire to ban or regulate out of existence farmers and small business owners puts hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk—and Americans across a wide political spectrum.”
“After nearly a decade of law-abiding farmers and businesses investing in this industry, changing the rules now would be a slap in the face,” he said. “Congress should think twice and work with the hemp industry that supports common-sense regulations instead of passing retroactive bans that punish responsible operators.”
The poll also found that nearly half of voters (47 percent) have personally purchased hemp products or knows someone who has.
The survey, first reported by Townhall, involved interviews with 1,000 likely voters from October 1-5, with a +/-3.1 percentage point margin of error.
Last week, a leading hemp industry organization has sent a letter to Trump, applauding him for his role in legalizing the crop during his first term and imploring him to prevent Congress from “reversing” the reform by banning hemp products containing any amount of THC.
“As hemp producers, farmers, consumers, and advocates, we are grateful and remain hopeful that your influence can save the $28.4 billion hemp industry that you helped make possible,” the U.S. Hemp Roundtable said. “The recent video you shared about the extraordinary value of hemp products was important, raising awareness on the positive impact our American-grown and manufactured products have.”
That was a reference to the president’s recent social media share of a video from The Commonwealth Project that touted the health benefits of hemp-derived CBD, particularly for senior citizens.
“Congress is close to passing a hemp ban, reversing the work you led in 2018 to make hemp blossom,” it said. “A proposed definition change to hemp, being touted as protecting Americans, would wipe out 95 percent of this uniquely American industry that you are so proud of.”
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Bipartisan congressional lawmakers have raised similar concerns, with a recent letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) pushing back against attempts to ban hemp THC products. The members argued that such a policy reversal would “deal a fatal blow” to the industry and, as currently included in a spending bill, violates congressional rules. To that end, the members say there are plans in the works to introduce an alternative measure to regulate the market.
At the federal level, while the Senate ultimately stripped hemp THC ban language from its version of the agriculture spending measure following a procedural protest from Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), there’s still concern among stakeholders that it could wind up in the final package delivered to the president following bicameral negotiations.
Meanwhile, Democratic senators also sent a letter to leadership last month that warned of the major upheaval that would happen in the hemp market if products containing any amount of THC were banned.
Dozens of hemp farmers from Kentucky also recently urged their state’s senior U.S. senator, McConnell, to back off from his push to recriminalize some products that are derived from their crops.
Paul, for his part, recently cautioned that the cannabis policy movement has “swung hard on the prohibitionist side” amid the ongoing debate over intoxicating hemp products. And he worries that, if things go awry, the hemp market could be decimated “within the next two weeks.”
Asked about recent conversations with McConnell and Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD), Paul said “we’ve been working diligently” with the staff “trying to reach a compromise.”
“A lot of the conversations have been constructive. They say, at least on the surface, they’re not trying to eliminate it—but I think we are, in some ways, talking past each other,” he said.
Meanwhile, Paul recently filed a standalone bill that would go in the opposite direction of the hemp ban, proposing to triple the concentration of THC that the crop could legally contain, while addressing multiple other concerns the industry has expressed about federal regulations.
The senator introduced the legislation, titled the Hemp Economic Mobilization Plan (HEMP) Act, in June. It mirrors versions he’s sponsored over the last several sessions.
Harris, who championed the hemp THC ban in his chamber version of the agriculture spending legislation, told Marijuana Moment that he wasn’t concerned about any potential opposition to the hemp ban in the Senate—and he also disputed reports about the scope of what his legislation would do to the industry.
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) released a report in June stating that the legislation would “effectively” prohibit hemp-derived cannabinoid products. Initially it said that such a ban would prevent the sale of CBD as well, but the CRS report was updated to exclude that language for reasons that are unclear.
The hemp language is largely consistent with appropriations and agriculture legislation that was introduced, but not ultimately enacted, under the last Congress.
Hemp industry stakeholders rallied against that proposal, an earlier version of which was also included in the base bill from the subcommittee last year. It’s virtually identical to a provision of the 2024 Farm Bill that was attached by a separate committee last May via an amendment from Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL), which was also not enacted into law.
In further evidence of the normalization of the hemp sector, the retail giant Target recently soft launched sales of THC-infused beverages at select stores in Minnesota.
Meanwhile, Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) of the United States recently entered a first-of-its-kind partnership with a hemp THC beverage company, with a licensing branding deal that will support a variety of veterans services and promote cannabis drinks as a potential alcohol alternative with the drinks being available at VFW posts across the country.
Read the full hemp polling memo below:
