​Hemp laws in the weeds

By Bryce Vincent Haugen

brycevincenthaugen@gmail.com

Audra Maurer never used marijuana until Minnesota businesses started to sell low-dose hemp-derived THC products.

“The first time I was pain free was using legalized hemp edibles,” said the 36-year-old Moorhead resident who was attending a fundraiser at Junkyard Brewing, which sells a variety of THC drinks it makes in-house.

Those products, including all intoxicating hemp-derived drinks, gummies, vapes and oils will no longer be available next November due to the agriculture spending bill Congress passed last month, one of the measures that ended the government shutdown. It’s estimated the industry garners $30 billion in annual sales and supports 300,000 jobs nationwide. In Minnesota, it is an estimated $200 million industry with sales at thousands of liquor stores, breweries, convenience stores and grocers supporting several thousand jobs. Because Minnesota legalized recreational THC in 2023, that much more highly regulated industry will not be directly affected.

According to a letter in support of the legislation from 39 attorneys general, Minnesota’s Keith Ellison among them, “Congress never meant to legalize these products in the 2018 farm bill. A proper interpretation of the farm bill’s hemp provision demonstrates that the entire synthetic THC industry rests on a foundation of illicit conduct. Clear direction from Congress is needed to shut down this industry before it metastasizes further into an even greater threat to public safety than it already is.”

Non-intoxicating industrial hemp products are exempt from the ban. Audra Maurer calls the new law, sponsored by Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell and supported by North Dakota’s senators while opposed by Minnesota’s senators, “unbelievably stupid.”

Junkyard Brewing co-owner Aaron Juhnke said the ban will be devastating to the non-alcohol side of his business.

“I personally think the hemp ban would do a lot of unnecessary economic damage,” Juhnke said. “The main reason I’ve heard for this ban is there are public safety concerns with hemp-derived THC being produced in states without regulations in place and I think those concerns are valid. However, I think the solution is to sensibly regulate these products (like Minnesota has done) not to ban them outright.”

Juhnke said Junkyard will continue to produce the hemp-derived drinks as long as they are allowed to. He added that THC and alcohol are competing industries that he has an interest in on both sides.

“But even if we lost the ability to sell THC, I think I would still support its legal and regulated sale,” he said. “I just don’t see any public safety or health information that would suggest THC needs to be treated much differently than alcohol as a recreational drug.”

Even the Minnesota Licensed Beverage Association (MLBA) opposes the ban.

“MLBA’s position is straightforward: This ban is unnecessary, harmful to small businesses and counterproductive to consumer safety.” said the organization’s spokesperson Leslie Rosedahl. “These products should remain in licensed, regulated environments. Yes, hemp-derived THC beverages compete in the same general space as alcoholic beverages, but retailers have adapted to that competition and invested heavily in inventory, training and consumer education. The ban eliminates a legitimate product line that customers clearly want, and that retailers have responsibly handled.”

The ban is also opposed in a bipartisan manner in the Minnesota legislature. Rep. Nolan West, a Republican from Blaine, has been outspoken with his views, as have Sens. Scott Dibble (DFL-Minneapolis) and Lindsey Port (DFL-Burnsville), authors of the 2023 and 2025 cannabis laws, respectively.

In a joint statement, the senators said, “This change is an existential threat to Minnesota’s nation-leading THC hemp drink industry and must be rejected. We’ve created a model that works — one that has empowered thousands of small business owners and entrepreneurs to build their dreams, hire local workers and contribute to a thriving, responsible marketplace.”

In fact, Twin Cities-based cannabis attorney Jason Tarasek said he can’t think of one person in Minnesota who thinks this is a good idea. (Anti-cannabis lobbying groups are the obvious exception). He’s not optimistic the ban will be repealed, given Republican control of Congress, because it would essentially require the legalization of cannabis nationwide, an unlikely scenario.

“(The industry) is going to disappear, more than likely,” Tarasek said. “I could be wrong. I was shocked that this ban passed in the first place… I don’t know how on earth you can bring a viable lawsuit.”

More likely than Congress stepping up would be President Donald Trump signing an executive order rescheduling cannabis, he said. Unless that happens, Minnesota’s hemp-derived THC industry would only be able to sell within the state, not throughout the nation as they have been.

“I don’t know how those companies survive with only a Minnesota market,” Tarasek said.

Minnesota’s largest hemp-derived THC business, Nothing but Hemp, produces more than 2 million beverages a year.

“We’ve invested heavily in safe, lab-tested, compliant hemp-derived products,” said Nothing but Hemp CEO Steven Brown. “A federal ban on intoxicating hemp derivatives would wipe out a major portion of our business, cost jobs (the company employs 35 Minnesotans) and put at risk the communities that rely on us. We’ve followed every rule given to us. This legislation doesn’t distinguish between responsible operators and bad actors — it just punishes everyone.”

The ban, Brown said, would “push consumers back toward unregulated or illicit markets, the opposite of what policymakers claim they want.”

“I respect AG Ellison, but I believe he is wrong on this issue and that he was not fully educated on how complex it really is,” Brown added. “This is an extremely complicated area of law and policy.”

In a statement released just a day after the ban passed Congress in November, Ellison walked back the language in the AGs letter supporting the legislation.

“The flaws of legalization by way of a loophole were clear,” Ellison said. “However, an outright ban inserted into vital legislation at the last minute without the opportunity for real discussion or debate is also the wrong path forward.”

Ellison said he will “urge Congress to follow Minnesota’s model and work with both industry and regulators to develop a responsible regulatory infrastructure for low potency hemp products, with the option for states to impose additional regulatory measures as they see fit. Adopting the Minnesota model will put bad actors out of business, protect consumers, support members of industry who play by the rules and preserve access to the low-potency hemp products that many people have come to enjoy. I look forward to working alongside lawmakers, regulators, and stakeholders to chart a better path forward on this important issue.”

At least one group was pleased with the ban — the anti-cannabis organization Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM). SAM President and CEO Dr. Kevin Sabet released the following statement of support upon passage: “For years, the predatory intoxicating hemp industry poisoned millions of children, deceived adults, and tricked lawmakers into allowing the mass proliferation of these dangerous substances. SAM and our friends and allies have fought hard from day one to stop them. Today, justice was finally served, thanks to the hard work of people who long for safe and healthy communities. We’ve been honored to help lead the way in the struggle to contain this addiction-for-profit industry.”

Back at Junkyard Brewing, patron Megan Lewis said that’s a ridiculous point of view. The 36-year-old doesn’t drink alcohol, but enjoys going out with her friends to bars and breweries where she can drink low dose hemp-derived THC beverages.

“It’s nice to be able to participate,” Lewis said. “I think (the ban) is going to be really bad for a lot of people. They’re going to suffer.”

Lewis said it’s been a tough year and this ban is just one more negative thing to add to the difficulty. THC beverages, she said half-jokingly, “are the one thing that’s helping me get through 2025.”