Cannabis News

Hemp Isn’t A Loophole—It’s A Legal Industry, And It’s Under Attack (Op-Ed)

Published

7 months ago

November 27, 2025

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“What this will do is put consumers at risk, steal tax revenue from municipalities and states, and ultimately hurt farmers across the nation.”

By Adam Stettner, FundCanna

Congress did something terribly shorthanded. They crammed a massive policy change into a budget deal and mistakenly called it “public safety.”

If the changes stand, it will wipe out a more than $28 billion market, kill about 300,000 jobs, and eliminate one of the best national paths we have today to safe and sensible cannabis reform and regulation. A prime example is when the government burned down a house to kill the spider.

This is not politics. The 2018 Farm Bill is an example of evil politics being used to kill an industry without having the courage to reverse it and fight back.

The Straw Man: “Unregulated hemp is dangerous, so we need a blanket ban.”

Proponents of the change argued that hemp-derived intoxicants such as Delta-8 THC are a public health threat. That it is sold to children. They are untested. That they escaped a loophole in the 2018 Farm Bill.

Although there is some element of truth in their arguments, this is not indicative of the whole truth.

In short, that narrative is written to support blanket prohibition. Every industry has bad actors, companies and people who game the system. Instead of destroying an entire industry to get rid of bad actors, you analyze the problem, determine the underlying problem, and use logic and law to create, regulate, and enforce structure.

That is not what Congress has done.

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. In 2018, he supported the Farm Bill that legalized hemp. Today, he says this law inadvertently unleashed an unregulated flood 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 maximum potency, laboratory testing, package size, distribution guidelines, age conditions, and a structure to enforce the above. All of this would address concerns about “gas station hemp” and the risk to children.

In short, I’m all for regulation. This is not a regulation. It is eradication.

Reality: This is a legal, licensed, thriving and job-creating industry

The 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp. That law was written, passed and signed by Congress and President Donald Trump, who has since endorsed the benefits of CBD and cannabinoids and asserted that cannabis policy should be left up to the states.

Since then, an entire market has grown up around hemp-derived cannabinoids. Manufacturers, retailers and financial partners have invested hundreds of millions in business compliance, taxation and job creation.

Cannabis entrepreneurs have built legitimate and highly regulated businesses that now employ hundreds of thousands of Americans. Their success does not depend on speculation, but on sustainable business models, sound financial management and sustainable access to capital;

The new provisions ban products containing more than 0.4 mg of THC per container. If passed, that would wipe out 95 percent of the hemp-derived market, according to industry estimates. And it would do so without holding a single hearing or public comment period, driving an industry underground to beg for regulation.

What this will do is put consumers at risk, steal tax revenue from municipalities and states, and ultimately hurt farmers nationwide. It will drive cultivation, production and manufacturing into the black market as it has done in the case of prohibition or unexpected legal structures.

One only has to look at the state’s legal cannabis market, which still operates under federal prohibition, to see a legal market that has grown to $35 billion but has simultaneously fueled an illegal market north of $100 billion.

The ban doesn’t work. Half-baked structures and scattered laws without a clear framework, understanding of basic economic principles and lack of regulation/enforcement do not work.

“This is just the beginning”? Let’s not invent ghosts

Some in the broader cannabis industry fear this is the horse behind future attacks on legal THC. This paranoia is understandable, but wrong.

This is not part of a coordinated federal crackdown. It’s a last-minute misguided attempt to solve a real consumer safety issue using the wrong tool. The maturity of the cannabis industry will be determined by its ability to distinguish between good policy and bad process. It is the latter.

Every part of the plant, regardless of label, requires logic, science-backed education, data, debate, and sensible, thoughtful regulation.

Do you want security? Regulate, not abolish

Intoxicating products must be tested, sales must be restricted to adults, packaging and potency must be clearly labeled. This is called regulation.

We regulate alcohol, tobacco and caffeine. We regulate thousands of other industries. What we don’t do is ban entire industries through the fine print in budget bills.

If Congress wants to fix the Farm Bill’s flaws, hold hearings. Invite scientists. Ask the Food and Drug Administration for guidance. Bring industry leaders to the table. What we don’t need is a hidden policy reversal tucked into a spending bill without public debate.

Over the decades, prohibition brought us figures like Al Capone and El Chapo, and created drug trafficking from all corners of the world. It involves crime, money laundering, loss of life, and it’s all pointless. What will the ban create in this case? Just imagine.

Although scientifically less dangerous than cannabis, the regulated alcohol and tobacco industries today employ millions, generate billions in sales and, above all, provide consumers with standardized and safer products through proper oversight. Yet we continue to vilify and ban rather than regulate.

The financial consequences are real

Ban hemp, and you haven’t gotten rid of “gas station” hemp.

You kill an entire industry, even the good parts. You eliminate hundreds of thousands of jobs. You eliminate tax revenue at the federal and state and municipal levels. You immediately take $30 billion out of the economy and push that money into illegal channels. You’re directly putting the product you’ve outlawed into the hands of children and those you claim to protect. Eliminating jobs and the possibility of regulation, oversight, safer products and age-status in the process.

Banning the industry does not protect consumers, it penalizes law-abiding and responsible business owners who are open to regulation and oversight.

The cannabis industry doesn’t want a free pass, but it deserves fair and responsible regulation. That starts with policy making that is deliberate, transparent and informed by the people doing the work on the ground.

Congress, your actions have created a much bigger problem than the problem you were trying to solve. If you want to keep our children safe and support our farmers and industries, 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 overseen more than $20 billion in loans in underserved markets.

Max Jackson’s photo.

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Cannabis News

Wyoming AG keeps cannabis on Schedule I, rejects federal reclassification

Published

39 minutes ago

July 10, 2026

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Wyoming Attorney General Keith Kautz announced on July 7 that he would keep all marijuana products in Schedule I of Wyoming’s Controlled Substances Act, refusing to align the state’s cannabis policy with the federal reorganization order issued earlier this year.

Kautz, who also serves as Wyoming’s drug and substance abuse commissioner, held a public hearing on June 18 after filing an objection to aligning the state’s cannabis schedule with a federal amendment on May 27. State law requires the commissioner to give interested parties an opportunity to be heard after that objection, but only nine people responded. Four email comments supported leaving cannabis as a Schedule I drug, four as Schedule III. It was approved for use and one person attended the hearing to request that cannabis remain in Schedule I.

His decision follows an April 2026 order signed by U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche that bans state-licensed medical cannabis, FDA-approved cannabis products, cannabis extracts and naturally derived delta-9 THC III.

Kautz’s office says: “After consideration of all stakeholder comments, the commissioner has determined that all marijuana products, including marijuana subject to the state’s medical marijuana license, will remain in Schedule I of the Wyoming Controlled Substances Act.”

His announcement adds, “The decision to reschedule medical marijuana and marijuana products is an important policy decision that is best left to the Wyoming Legislature and should not be made through administrative rule.”

Wyoming remains one of eight states without a medical cannabis program. A December 2020 poll by the University of Wyoming’s Wyoming Center for Polling and Analysis found that 85 percent of state residents support legalizing medical cannabis, despite a failed 2024 ballot initiative effort. Possession of three ounces or less carries up to 12 months in prison under current state law, and selling any amount is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Kautz says his office will “properly schedule products approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration once that agency has approved the product,” pointing to the Schedules II and III listings of Cesamet and Dronabinol as evidence that the state complies with federal cannabinoid drug law.

Cannabis News

Massachusetts Initiative To Roll Back Marijuana Legalization Officially Qualifies For November Ballot

Published

45 minutes ago

July 10, 2026

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Officials in Massachusetts have formally certified an An initiative to roll back that state’s marijuana legalization law will appear on the November ballot.

The Commonwealth Secretariat’s Division of Elections notified organizers on Thursday that they had delivered enough valid signatures in the second round of petitions to put the measure before the voters—but just barely.

Under state law, Massachusetts ballot campaigns must submit signatures in two rounds. After the first presentation, the legislature has the opportunity to propose ballot measures after the organizers have presented the initial round of requests. Legislators in May he refused to act on the anti-marijuana measurehowever, and therefore the organizers had to present 12,429 more certified signatures by July 1 for the November vote.

“I am pleased to inform you that this Office has accepted 12,551 certified signatures received on or before July 1, 2026,” Michelle K. Tassinar of the Division of Elections wrote in a letter to one of the initial signatories. “The remaining signatures were voided for not being certified, inconsistent with the interpretation of (state law) or exceeding the number allowed for each county.”

“Therefore, the petition for the initiative will be printed on the November 3, 2026 state election ballot as required by the Constitution,” he said.

Meanwhile, a coalition of Massachusetts marijuana entrepreneurs, health care professionals and other advocates has launched a campaign to defeat the measure, which if enacted, would repeal laws that allow for the regulated commercial sale of recreational cannabis and home cultivation, while maintaining legal ownership and continuing the medical marijuana system.

In June, the campaign behind the legalization measure, the Coalition for a Healthy Massachusetts, released a signature-gatherer that it says showed “totally unacceptable” behavior in a recent video.

As Marihuana Moment reported, a The man was petitioning for the Massachusetts initiative, as well as a similar anti-cannabis proposal in Maine Recent social media posts suggested that voters who support legal access to marijuana should sign petitions to advance or support the reform.

The campaign later said it has “zero tolerance” for circulation tactics that would mislead petition signers.

“The identified canvasser was terminated immediately, in coordination with our vendor, upon learning of the alleged conduct,” the team said. “The behavior shown in the video would be completely unacceptable and does not reflect how this campaign works. We demand honesty, transparency and professionalism from everyone associated with our efforts.”

A video posted on Reddit shows the petitioner collecting signatures outside a Massachusetts retail store next to a sign that says “keep cannabis legal.”

When the petitioner confronted a marijuana reform supporter who recorded interactions with voters, it appears he was trying to convince them that getting the anti-cannabis measure on the ballot is important to defeating it later.

“This is what we’re fighting here. That’s why we’re voting no,” he said. “If we can bring this to a vote right here, we will vote no.”

The person who received the video noted that Massachusetts voters already approved the legalization of marijuana years ago, and the only way to immediately reverse it would be if the new ballot measure qualified for the November election. If the initiative doesn’t get enough signatures to go before the voters, state laws will remain the same.

“It’s my job,” insisted the applicant, however. “I know what I’m talking about.”

“It’s a group of wealthy out-of-state people who basically want to take marijuana back to the time when medical marijuana was the ticket,” he said. “We don’t want that to happen.”

The same man also appeared to be collecting extraordinary signatures A Maine measure that would repeal laws allowing the regulated sale of marijuana to adults and home cultivation rights for adults while maintaining legal ownership and adding new testing requirements for medical cannabis.

An employee of the prohibitionist organization Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), of which the group is a member. SAM Action is largely funding anti-cannabis vote campaigns in both states, declined to comment on the petitioner’s conduct when reached by Marihuana Moment.

Campaigns have been accused of deceptive solicitation tactics before.

In Massachusetts, some voters reported the campaign used fake letters for other ballot measures on unrelated issues such as affordable housing and same-day voter registration. Supporters of legal cannabis filed a formal complaint about the tactics of the prohibitionist effortbut The State Voting Law Commission rejected the rebuttal.

The The measure faced a legal challenge from cannabis industry players he argued that it contains “irrelevant issues” and that the state attorney general’s official brief is “misleading and deficient.” State Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the case challenging the anti-marijuana initiative but after all he decided against the challenge.

Read state officials the letter Regarding the certification of the anti-marijuana ballot initiative:

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Cannabis News

Entourage Health faces severance claims from dismissed employees

Published

1 day ago

July 9, 2026

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Entourage Health Corp., an Aylmer, Ont.-based cannabis grower, laid off 53 workers on June 8 without notice, offering only two weeks’ pay in lieu of notice rather than layoffs. More than 40 former employees have since filed complaints with Ontario’s Ministry of Labor, alleging the company violated the province’s Employment Standards Act, which entitles workers with more than five years of service at companies with payrolls of more than $2.5 million to receive 26 weeks of severance pay.

The company is owned by the pension fund of LiUNA, a major private sector union, which became Entourage’s largest lender and shareholder following a series of investments beginning in 2017. Entourage was taken private by an entity related to LiUNA in April 2025. After struggling with debt and unprofitability, the company laid off most of its leisure workers, and lost most of its bank employees to CCAA. protection at the end of June 2026. Its medical cannabis division continues to operate with 22 employees.

Court filings show Entourage owes LiUNA’s pension fund about $240 million. Efforts to sell the company generated little industry interest, leading to a bankruptcy filing. Former employees, including Benjamin Hessel and Gabriela Ayee, say they were blindsided by the sudden layoffs and worry they won’t get back the severance they were owed in the restructuring. A labor attorney noted that workers laid off in bankruptcy typically become unsecured creditors with limited recourse because secured lenders and government creditors are prioritized. The federal Wage Protection Program offers affected workers a one-time payment of up to $9,275. Neither Entourage nor the LiUNA Pension Fund responded to requests for comment.