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Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what’s happening in the world of legalized marijuana. This week, hemp is all the rage: the delay, the pushback against the delay, the connection to the White House, a message from Mitch McConnell – this story has it all. And there’s a lawsuit going on in Virginia about hemp, in case you wanted yet more hemp news. Meanwhile, in Alabama, they’re wondering if they can opt out of federal rescheduling. And finally, Dwayne Wade is selling a new cannabis beverage.
FEDERAL HEMP CRIMINALIZATION
As the law currently stands, intoxicating hemp will become illegal on November 12, 2026. The hemp industry, hemp consumers and some lawmakers would very much like to see the law changed. The current effort to do so involves a budget continuing resolution (happily, federal budget finagling is beyond the scope of this blog, so you’ll need to go elsewhere for more on that) which would delay the ban until December 11, 2026. Senate leadership is behind this budget measure, so it may very well pass with the hemp provision in it. The House of Representatives’ budget bill has no language concerning hemp, so the discrepancy would have to be worked out. Various groups, including some state attorneys general, Senator Ted Budd (R-NC) and the Family Research Council are pushing back against the delay. Where’s the White House in all of this? The President reportedly called Senator Budd, who is sponsoring an amendment to the budget bill to remove the delay, and asked him to back off. The White House denies that this is in any way related to the fact that the White House Chief of Staff’s son-in-law is a hemp industry executive. Oh, and a spokesperson for Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) says he is opposed to the delay as well.
VIRGINIA
Still haven’t had enough hemp news? No worries – we’ve got more! A similar disagreement over the legality of hemp is playing out in Virginia. The state’s recent budget bill contained a provision putting restrictions on hemp products. The hemp industry, viewing this as an existential threat, filed suit in federal court, claiming that the bill is unconstitutional. The restrictions are scheduled to go into effect on August 15, which is fast approaching. Will the court delay implementation? Stay tuned…
ALABAMA
With the move of medical marijuana to Schedule III, the state of Alabama’s State Committee of Public Health had 30 days in which to object before the state would automatically adopt that reclassification. And object they did. This led to a public hearing last month and a period for public comment that ended this week. Officials say this does not mean the state will not reschedule, but is simply a way to buy time to determine how rescheduling might change the state’s medical cannabis program.
AND FINALLY
Former Miami Heat and Marquette University basketball star Dwayne Wade has a new cannabis beverage. It’s part lemonade and part iced tea, but this is *not* Arnold Palmer’s Arnold Palmer.
Be well everyone – we’ll see you next week.
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