From courthouses to statehouses to Capitol Hill, one of the most common anti-hemp messages is that hemp-derived products are being targeted to minors. This can be seen in a variety of forms, Mary Miller holding up photos during the House Agricultural Committee’s markup on the 2024 Farm Bill, or even more recently, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) showing cannabis-containing products that look eerily similar to commonly available snack foods and candies. The protection of children and the elimination of bad actors is of paramount importance, but equally important is letting legislators and elected officials make judgments based on their own assessment of the situation, rather than telling them what to do.
Many regulated hemp industry participants scoff at images of products that are appealing to minors or packaging that resembles commonly available snack foods and candies. The reason they do so is simple, regulated hemp operators play by the rules and want to rid the industry of bad actors. Further, regulated hemp is often the scapegoat for illicit products that are manufactured and shipped across state lines from states that regulate the sale of marijuana, a schedule I controlled substance.
A prime example of this is from yesterday’s Fox News story stating: “Millions of Illicit Cannabis Packages Disguised as Children’s Candy Seized in California”. This story, which can be found here, depicts the packages that are made to mimic candies and snack foods that are appealing to children. All of which contain California’s marijuana symbol, a triangle containing a cannabis leaf and exclamation point. Similar packages were displayed by Miller and Missouri’s DHSS, yet hemp industry participants were ostracized as peddlers of products appealing to minors.
This is exactly what is wrong with the United States cannabis industry. An overregulated (and closed loop) state marijuana market does not have enough demand for its products, so it illegally ships them across state lines where they are unjustly demonized as hemp products. While hemp and its products enjoy the benefit of interstate commerce because of the 2018 Farm Bill, lack of federal guidance on the issue means states have been forced to regulate hemp within their borders, many of which have already done so, and all have eliminated the ability to sell products that appeal to minors.
Under state regulated systems with sensible regulations, hemp and hemp products are not made this way, and they certainly aren’t marketed this way. For this reason, hemp and hemp products should no longer suffer the blame from elected officials who are being told that hemp is the problem, when marijuana products that cross state lines, and the bad actors that make and market them to be appealing to minors, are the black eye on the cannabis industry. For this reason, we will continue to play by the rules and encourage the sensible and appropriate regulation of hemp and hemp products which are lawful under the 2018 Farm Bill and according to relevant state law.
