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Congress Should Delay The Federal Hemp Ban And Instead Enact Regulations For THC And CBD Products (Op-Ed)

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2 months ago

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“Republicans, Democrats and independents understand that regulation is better than prohibition, and that good science takes time.”

By Mike Simpson, Lovewell Farms via Rhode Island Current

At a time when Americans across the political spectrum say they want evidence-based policy, Congress is on the verge of repeating a familiar mistake: ban first, learn later.

Bipartisan legislation recently introduced in the US House and Senate would delay it federal ban on hemp-derived products. This is not to legislate anything new, but to give regulators, researchers and farmers time to do what Congress says they want to do: collect data, set clear rules and regulate responsibly.

I write this as a hemp farmer and small business owner. Having started Lovewell Farms in 2018, I know firsthand the effects a ban on hemp-derived products would have on my farm, the only USDA-certified organic hemp farm in Rhode Island. Here’s what lawmakers don’t fully understand: Hemp isn’t something that can be turned on and off with a vote. Farmers need to know in the next 100 days whether the plant they will harvest in October will be legal in November.

The seeds are planted in April. The fields are cultivated all summer. The crops are harvested in October. The federal ban, which takes effect in November, lands after farmers commit to a full season of labor, capital and compliance costs. There is no back button for farming. This uncertainty is already forcing farms to close. A sudden ban would end the job.

The Senate bill (S.3686) was introduced by Senator Amy Klobuchar, Democrat of Minnesota, and co-sponsors Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, and Jeff Merkley, Democrat of Oregon. delaying the ban on hemp-derived products by two yearsAllowing Congress to explore regulatory alternatives rather than default to a ban. A House Bill (H.7010)Led by Republican Jim Baird, the Indiana Republican, also with bipartisan sponsors, would do the same.

Together, these bills recognize a basic agricultural reality: Farmers need predictability before they plant.

It is important to note that Congress is not only proposing a delay, but is debating the regulations. The Hemp Enforcement, Modernization, and Protection (HEMP) Act is another bipartisan bill introduced in the House (H.7212) that would establish a federal framework for hemp-derived products, including clear safety standards, labeling requirements, enforcement authority, and potency limits defined by product type. The proposal demonstrates that per-serve and per-package limits can achieve consumer protection and responsible oversight for oral, inhalable, topical, and THC-containing hemp products.

Taken together, these bills show that Congress has viable, bipartisan alternatives to an outright ban, should it choose to use them.

At this point, this is not a discussion about the limits of THC. The question is whether hemp policy will be driven by science or fear. That distinction matters because federal science is finally catching up. In 2025, the Trump administration issued an executive order directing federal agencies to expand cannabis and cannabidiol (CBD) research, including using large federal health data sets, such as Medicare records, to analyze safety, efficacy and outcomes.

The order did not legalize CBD or add it as a Medicare benefit, but it did expressly recognize that cannabinoids require rigorous scrutiny before policy decisions can be made. Congress is pushing for a ban at a time when the federal government is building the science-based research infrastructure needed to answer tough questions.

Concerns raised by opponents of hemp-derived products also argue for regulation, not bans. Whether the products require clearer labeling, age restrictions, potency standards or enforcement tools like those already in place in Rhode Island are state-by-state regulatory challenges. Rhode Island already regulates hemp products. Farmers and businesses here should not be penalized because other states have dragged their feet to create a regulated market.

Prohibition does not solve these problems; it simply pushes them out of sight, into unregulated markets that are less safe for consumers. Banning hemp would push production overseas. If hemp cultivation in the United States collapses, demand will not disappear. It will shift to cannabinoids imported from countries like Canada or China, where regulators in the United States have far less visibility or control. The result harms local farmers, consumers and public safety.

Rhode Island Reps. Gabe Amo and Seth Magaziner previously voted against a federal hemp ban embedded in a larger spending bill. That was the right call. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, however, specifically voted to keep the hemp ban language in the same bill. Rhode Island senators have an opportunity to support local farmers and small businesses by cosponsoring this bipartisan delay bill (S.3686). Rhode Island representatives can do the same with the corresponding House bill (H.7010).

This is one of the few issues in Congress that remains truly bipartisan. Republicans, Democrats, and independents understand that regulation is better than prohibition, and that good science takes time. Congress should not dismantle the $30 billion domestic agriculture industry with more than 300,000 jobs when meaningful investigations begin. A temporary delay protects farmers, supports small businesses, keeps hemp farming rooted here in the United States and allows policymakers to regulate with evidence rather than panic.

Prohibition without evidence is not politics. Rhode Island’s delegation should stand with farmers, small businesses and science by sponsoring bipartisan bills that delay this ban and allow the regulations to catch up to reality.

He is the creator of Mike Simpson Lovewell FarmsRhode Island’s only US Department of Agriculture (USDA) organic hemp farm. He is also a historian, educator, and longtime advocate for policy reform. He previously served as Deputy Director of Regulate Rhode Island and Initiative Coordinator for the Marihuana Policy Project in Maine. He currently resides in Providence and farms in the town of Hope Valley in Hopkinton.

This story was first published by the Rhode Island Current.

Max Jackson’s photo.

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State hemp license applications end April 30

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6 hours ago

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April 19, 2026

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Those wishing to grow and process hemp this year must apply for a license from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) by April 30. Each license is valid until December 31 of the year it is issued. Graduates must reapply annually to continue in the program. An MDA license is required for individuals and businesses.

So far, about 30 people have applied for the 2026 MDA license, compared to 84 applicants last year.

These licenses are for the cultivation and processing of industrial hemp only. The hemp license application is not for adult use or for growing or selling medical cannabis. The application is also not intended for the sale of hemp-derived cannabinoid products. Information on adult use and medical cannabis is available Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) website.

There are applications of industrial hemp MDA website. Along with the online form, first-time applicants and authorized representatives must submit fingerprints and pass a criminal background check.

There are also several updates for the 2026 season. The extraction of cannabinoids from hemp is now regulated by the OCM, meaning that anyone interested in this type of processing will need a separate licence. The rates have also changed. The base cost of a hemp license is now $400, with an additional $250 per growing or processing location. The previous $250 processor license fee has been removed, but a 5% surcharge now applies to upgrades to MDA’s technology systems.

All authorized representatives listed on an application must pass a background check before being licensed. In addition, each lot of hemp must undergo THC testing before harvest, and each official sample collected by the MDA costs $100.

Source: Minnesota Department of Agriculture










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Colorado Marijuana Officials Announce Crackdown On Sales Of Hemp Products Amid ‘Risks To Public Safety’

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7 hours ago

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April 18, 2026

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These issues “pose serious risks to public safety, market integrity, and the tax revenue framework that supports Colorado’s regulated cannabis industry.”

By Christopher Osher, ProPublica and Evan Wyloge, The Denver Gazette

This story was originally published by ProPublica.

Colorado regulators announced Monday that they plan to crack down on companies that sell cheaper, potentially dangerous, illegal hemp products as marijuana.

The state’s Division of Marijuana Enforcement said it had identified “compliance issues” that threaten to dismantle the marijuana industry in the nation’s first legal retail market.

These problems “pose serious risks to public safety, market integrity and the tax revenue framework that supports Colorado’s regulated cannabis industry,” the agency said in an industry newsletter.

An investigation by the Denver Gazette and ProPublica in January reported that despite Colorado being one of the first states to ban the sale of intoxicating hemp products, the legislature and regulators. he failed adopting many of the rules that other states have used to keep hemp products off the medical marijuana shelves.

Creating evaporative and edible liquid distillate from hemp is much cheaper than using marijuana, giving companies a competitive advantage.

But regulators say they are concerned that manufacturers are relying on toxic and dangerous chemicals to convert the non-toxic CBD compound that is predominant in hemp into THC, the psychoactive compound that makes people feel high. Regulators have banned this chemical synthesis, saying they fear chemical residues could remain in the finished product, putting consumers at risk.

Colorado manufacturers have taken advantage of loopholes in the state’s testing and enforcement system to continue using hemp to make products marketed as marijuana, even though doing so is against state law, according to regulatory studies, previous agency bulletins and testimony and lab results contained in several lawsuits.

In 2024, state investigators found that a popular brand of marijuana sold at dispensaries was not only derived from hemp, but also contaminated with methylene chloride, the chemical often used to convert CBD from hemp into THC. Marijuana is banned by Colorado regulators and banned for most uses by the US Environmental Protection Agency because it can cause liver and lung cancer and damage the nervous, immune and reproductive systems.

Ware House, the company that manufactured these vaporizers, relinquished its marijuana license in response to the investigation. Ware Hause’s owner, Thanh Hau, and the company’s lawyer declined to comment.

Congress passed a law last November that bans nearly all hemp products nationwide starting this fall, but it’s unclear how the government will enforce the ban, and hemp growers are reeling.

In December, President Donald Trump issued an executive order telling his aides to work with Congress to develop rules that could allow certain hemp products.

The Colorado Division of Marijuana Enforcement made the announcement Monday newsletter agency officials stated that they “identified and investigated evidence” that marijuana companies are using illegal practices and prohibited methods to manufacture products, instead of relying on marijuana, which is supposed to be monitored for safety.

The Colorado Hemp Association and the Colorado Hemp Education Association did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Beyond safety concerns, the bulletin also noted that some marijuana manufacturers and growers are avoiding marijuana tax obligations through “a pattern of non-compliance” in sales operations they report to the state’s “seed-to-sale” tracking system, which tracks marijuana from the initial planting to the sale of flower, vapes and other products at dispensaries.

Companies misrepresent marijuana sales at nominal prices, in some cases as low as $1 per pound for unprocessed marijuana material, the newsletter said. Those products typically fetch more than $600 per pound on the market, depending on the category of marijuana, according to industry experts.

That fraudulent reporting has stolen millions of dollars in marijuana taxes from state and local governments, industry experts say, though no official estimate is available.

The agency said it will follow emergency rules to address these issues. The bulletin emphasized that suspicious and abnormal transactions and inventories detected by the state will prompt investigations. Companies caught using hemp or other illegal material passed off as marijuana face “immediate product embargo, license suspension or revocation, significant fines and law enforcement,” regulators warned.

The Denver Gazette and ProPublica have tried to track the anomalous transactions, but the Division of Marijuana Enforcement’s sales transaction records, even those that do not identify the companies, are not public.

Marijuana industry representatives met with the division’s regulators late last month to push for a more aggressive response to the agency’s hemp replacement, even though it could affect some companies in the industry. The representatives argued that bad actors are unfairly driving down prices and shifting the tax burden to manufacturers and growers who are trying to comply with the rules. The newsletter was released a couple of weeks after that meeting.

“The division is also considering additional changes to its testing and screening protocols” to detect illegal products and prohibited methods, and may require additional laboratory tests “if needed for products throughout the supply chain,” the agency’s bulletin said.

This article was produced in partnership with ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network Denver Magazine. Sign up for Submissions to receive stories in your inbox every week.

user photo WeedPornDaily.

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Nascent medical cannabis industry aims for growth

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1 day ago

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April 18, 2026

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The medicinal cannabis sector is struggling to take root, and another specialist processing plant is set to close. But with current regulations and a new collective industry in mind, New Zealanders are promising to reduce their reliance on imported medicinals.

There was great excitement when medicinal cannabis was legalized and then regulated in 2020, with the hope of growing the domestic sector and serving patients here and abroad. However, since then, several companies have closed their doors, including Greenfern Industries, Cannasouth and, most recently, Helius Therapeutics.

The latter plans to close the East Tāmaki plant, affecting 65 workers. It is one of the few medicinal cannabis factories in the entire nation that has a specialized processing certificate called “Good Manufacturing Practice” (GMP).

Medical Cannabis Council executive director Sally King said that under current rules, most growers did not have such certification, and could only sell raw ingredients, not processed products such as more profitable cannabis capsules.

Read more at the town










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