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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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5 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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Saxony-Anhalt state government backs hemp innovation center in Mücheln

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16 hours ago

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July 17, 2026

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The German state of Saxony-Anhalt is supporting the development of a hemp information and competence center in Müchelnen (Geiseltal). The joint project known as IKHE – “Information and Competence Center for Hemp with Experience Trails” – is being carried out by the city of Mücheln (Geiseltal), the University of Applied Sciences Merseburg and the German Hemp Academy (Deutsche Hanf-Akademie eV).

The project has been given approximately 3.8 million euros as part of the New European Bauhaus (NEB) initiative, fully financed by the European Union’s Just Transition Fund (JTF).

The funding announcement was presented in Mücheln (Geiseltal) on July 7, 2026 by Gert Zender, State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy, Tourism, Agriculture and Forestry of Saxony-Anhalt.

© New Bauhauslers

Hemp is a versatile plant and one of the oldest crops cultivated by humans. For centuries, it was used to produce textiles, paper, and building and construction materials, before being largely displaced by fossil-based raw materials. Today, the renewed use of hemp opens up new possibilities for the ecologically and economically efficient production of building materials and fiber products. Grown in rotation with other crops, hemp improves soil quality, requires no crop protection products and requires little water.

Hanffaser Geiseltal eG a hemp industry processing cooperative is already active in the region. While Hanffaser Geiseltal processes the raw material, the IKHE partners are working to establish the information and competence center as a center for knowledge transfer, education and testing. Together, these efforts are turning Mücheln (Geiseltal) into a location with experience covering the entire hemp value chain.

At the heart of IKHE is an experimental building workshop where new bio-based building materials made from hemp are developed, tested and demonstrated in experimental building projects. This is complemented by a self-help building workshop, where both professionals and the public can learn how to work with hemp-based building materials through combined theoretical and practical seminars, and receive hands-on guidance for their building projects. Experiential trails will also allow visitors to explore where and how hemp can be used, in a hands-on way, from construction and textiles to food and cosmetics.

© New Bauhauslers

A bottom-up participatory approach is central to the project. From the very beginning, local residents, associations, schools and regional initiatives have been actively involved in the development and implementation of the project through open workshops and practical activities. In this way, the project combines formal scientific and technical knowledge with the practical expertise of craftsmanship and regional traditions, reflecting the values ​​of the new European Bauhaus of being beautiful, sustainable and inclusive.

IKHE is an Applied NEB Project and will be in operation until 2028. It is supported by the NEB Network Office Saxony-Anhalt, acting on behalf of the State Chancellery and the Saxony-Anhalt Ministry of Culture.

Source: The new Bauhauslers

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Federal Marijuana Rescheduling Hearing Wraps Up, With DEA Judge Laying Out Next Steps

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16 hours ago

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July 17, 2026

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A Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) hearing The Trump administration’s cannabis rescheduling proposal concluded, and the agency judge overseeing the proceeding set a deadline for the parties involved to file post-hearing briefs before the next recommendation on reform.

The multi-day hearing, which began late last month, ended Wednesday after presentations from a handful of states opposing federal cannabis reform.

DEA Chief Administrative Law Judge Derek Julius issued an order Thursday, saying that because “no closing time was granted” during the court days, participants in the process will be able to file post-trial documents, which are due Aug. 17.

Those documents can be up to 50 pages long and can include “closing arguments and arguments on any other matter raised by the court at the hearing.”

“This is a non-mandatory submission, so a named party will not be penalized for failing to file a post-hearing brief, and the absence of a submission means that there was no submission,” Julius wrote.

His order also states that participants can submit corrections to the daily transcripts of the proceedings by August 17.

“The amendments submitted by the designated parties are only proposed amendments. This panel will also examine the transcript for possible errors and indicate where amendments are needed,” wrote the judge. “The list created by the court will be compared with the list submitted by the Named Parties to create a list of final corrections. Thereafter, this court will issue an order approving the list of final corrections and include those corrections in the official copy of the transcript.”

“A fully redacted copy of the transcript of these proceedings will be made publicly available on the Agency’s website,” Julius said.

The judge said in his closing statement at the end of Wednesday’s hearing that he will work on writing his recommendation after receiving the next briefs on whether the government should move forward with broad marijuana rescheduling, but stressed that the final decision would rest with the DEA administrator.

Julius did not specify an anticipated timeline for the administrator’s recommendation of action.

At the hearing, DEA officials were tasked with defending the proposed cannabis reorganization featured testimony about the medical benefits of marijuana and its relative safety compared to other substances such as alcohol and opioids. It included appearances by a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) scientist and a doctor from New Hampshire. Medical marijuana provides relief to pain patients and can serve as an alternative to opioids.

Meanwhile, attorneys and witnesses for the parties opposing marijuana redistricting who attended the hearing focused on the alleged harms of cannabis use, as well as criticism of the recently approved changes. an analysis used to determine whether or not drugs have approved medical value.

DEA Administrator Terrance Cole only organizations and individuals opposed to marijuana reform have been invited to the hearing as a designated participant – telling followers that they do not meet the definition of “interested person” to participate because they are not “affected or prejudiced by any rule or proposed rule that may be issued.”

Participating opposition parties include Smart Approaches to Marijuana, the National Drug & Alcohol Screening Association, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, DUID Victim Voices, Kenneth Finn, Phillip A. Drum, and the states of Idaho, Indiana, and Nebraska.

Before the hearing began last month, marijuana reform activists rallied They held a press conference outside DEA headquarters to highlight how they feel of the process – that supporters of the reform were not invited to participate and that the proceedings were not broadcast live, despite the officials’ vow of “transparency”.

Marihuana Moments sent petitions to DEA Chief Administrative Law Judge Derek Julius and DEA Administrator Cole asking for them reverse the decision to ban the public from tuning into the cannabis hearing via live stream. A Congressmen and other journalists later joined that request.

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Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche in April He issued an order that immediately reclassified the state’s licensed medical cannabisas well as marijuana products approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under Schedule I through Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

A separate order was signed by the acting attorney general hearing marijuana III.

Preliminary hearing process on the marijuana redistricting process initiated by the Biden administration It was halted last year amid allegations of improper communications and witness selection.

the current The marijuana redistricting process is being challenged in several ways which have been upheld by a federal Court of Appeals. those pieces of State attorneys general have filed lawsuits against cannabis reform, Opponents of marijuana legalization and a a cannabis-based biopharmaceutical corporation.

Meanwhile, the reorganization of state-licensed medical cannabis is already having a major impact.

The Congressional Research Service published a report on the current rescheduling of cannabis Certified patients with medical marijuana from state licensed dispensaries are now eligible for Class III. “The order appears to allow end users to use marijuana medically without a CSA prescription,” he says.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has published a Draft update to a gun purchase form to recognize the legal status of medical marijuana in the reprogramming. The revised section of the question states that only the “recreational use or possession of marijuana” is federally prohibited, omitting the prior form’s mention of medical cannabis.

The US Treasury and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) said they plan to issued new tax guidelines for the marijuana industry after reprogramming. The reform will benefit state-licensed marijuana businesses by allowing them to take federal tax deductions that are currently prohibited under IRS Code Section III, known as Section 280E.

Even the DEA, which has long opposed cannabis legalization and accused the Biden administration of stalling the initiative in the reorganization process, has done so. It launched a registration process for legal marijuana businesses in the state to take advantage of the federal benefits that come with the reform.

The Department of Transport, on the other hand, issued guidelines stating this use Legal medical cannabis in the state is still no excuse for truck drivers to test positive for drugspilots and other safety-sensitive personnel.

The The War Department released a memo making it clear that military service members were using marijuana and civilian employees of the department remain prohibited, even in the federal rescheduling of cannabis.

A congressional committee recently Federal officials voted to block further steps to reschedule cannabishowever lawmakers from both parties told Marihuana Moment they don’t think that provision will be enacted become law

Read the DEA’s post-trial hearing the order below:

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Photo Report: Cultivate 2026

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2 days ago

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July 16, 2026

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New varieties, commercial trends, packaging solutions, greenhouse developments, microbiological products, crop protection – there was a lot to see, learn, do and discover at Cultivate 2026, and we’ll be sure to share it all with you in the coming days. But first, it’s picture time (and nap time).

See the supplier photo report Cultivate 2026 here.

Find photo coverage of gardening companies on our sister site FloralDaily.

© Arlette Sijmonsma | MMJDaily.com

Pipp / GGS, the Berger team, the VidaWool team and Beneficial Insectary Cultivate are all at 2026.










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