WTF Is Up With Hemp? Inside Suncoast NORML’s Explosive Breakdown of the Federal Hemp Ban

Carlos Hermida
Nov 17, 2025
8 min read

On the latest episode of The Rotation Podcast by Suncoast NORML, the question on everyone’s mind was right there in the title:

“WTF Is Up With Hemp?”

Because while most of the country was watching the federal government shut down and then creak back open, something massive happened in the fine print:a $28 billion hemp industry was quietly targeted for extinction.

This episode brought together voices from every part of the hemp supply chain to unpack what just happened, who pushed it, and what we still have time to do about it.

Guests included:

Gary Stein – Suncoast NORML Policy & Political Director, hosting the conversation
Chris Cano – Suncoast NORML Executive Director, breaking down the DC inside game
Carlos Hermida – Retailer and owner of Chillum Mushroom & Hemp Dispensary
Randy Rembert – Fourth-generation Black farmer, Rembert Family Farms
Mike Thompson – CEO of Danko Ganja, a hemp chocolate manufacturer

Here’s the breakdown of what went down on the show – and why this episode might be one of the most important Rotations yet.

What Happened in DC While the Lights Were Off

When Congress finally agreed to reopen the federal government, they didn’t just pass a funding bill.

They slipped in a rider that:

Rewrites the legal definition of hemp
Effectively bans most “intoxicating hemp products”
Puts CBD and full-spectrum hemp products at risk, not just Delta-8 or THCA
Starts a 365-day countdown before these changes kick in

As Chris explained, this wasn’t debated on the House or Senate floor. It wasn’t heard in committee. It was done in the dark, attached to a must-pass bill while the government was technically shut down.

And it wasn’t just fringe prohibitionists driving it.

The episode called out:

A Maryland Republican in Congress who branded it the “hemp loophole”
Senator Mitch McConnell, who once championed the 2018 Farm Bill and now reportedly wanted to “close the loophole” as part of his legacy
Senator Rand Paul and Rep. Thomas Massie, who actually tried to strike the hemp ban language and were shut down
Senator Chris Van Hollen, who pointed out that the one-year implementation window gives time to pass an alternative regulatory model – if the industry can organize fast enough

The bottom line: this wasn’t an accident. This was the culmination of a long-brewing effort to slam the brakes on hemp.

What the New Hemp Definition Really Means (In Plain English)

Under the 2018 Farm Bill, hemp was legal if it contained:

Less than 0.3% Delta-9 THC by dry weight

That narrow wording opened the door to:

Delta-8
THCA
Other hemp-derived cannabinoids
Hemp beverages, edibles, vapes, tinctures, and more in all 50 states

The new rider changes that game completely.

According to the breakdown on the show, within a year:

“Total THC” replaces Delta-9 only
- The 0.3% cap becomes total THC: Delta-9, Delta-8, other isomers, and any cannabinoid with “similar effects” or marketed as such.
Synthetic or “non-naturally produced” cannabinoids are banned
- Anything manufactured outside the plant or not capable of being naturally produced by cannabis is out.
Intermediate products are banned if sold to consumers
- No more “intermediate hemp-derived products” marketed directly to end consumers.
The new limit is absurd: 0.4 mg per package
- Legal hemp products would be capped at 0.4 milligrams of total THC (and similar cannabinoids) per container.
- For comparison: many hemp drinks and edibles on the market sit in the 5–10 mg per serving range. This would wipe them all out.
FDA will publish a “safe list” of cannabinoids
- Within 90 days, FDA and other agencies must publish a list of cannabinoids that:
  - Are naturally produced by cannabis, and
  - Are considered acceptable based on available literature

If this stands as-is, nearly every intoxicating hemp product on the market – and a lot of non-intoxicating full-spectrum CBD products – becomes illegal in a year.

Who Really Pushed This? Follow the Money

One of the strongest themes of the episode was that this isn’t just about “safety” or “kids.”

It’s about money, market share, and control.

The guests called out several forces behind the ban:

Big Alcohol – staring at data showing that alcohol sales drop where cannabis access rises
Big Cannabis / MSOs – large multi-state marijuana operators that see hemp as competition and have been lobbying to criminalize hemp products
Consumer Brands Association – a trade group representing giants like Coca-Cola, General Mills, Kraft Heinz, and Nestlé, reportedly pushing the hemp crackdown behind the scenes
Private prison interests – highlighted through lobbying overlaps with companies like GEO Group, which profit from criminalization

As Mike pointed out, many of these players couldn’t innovate their way into this booming new category, so they leaned on what they do know:lobbying, regulation, and using the state to pick winners and losers.

The goal isn’t “public safety.”The goal is to:

Shrink the legal hemp market
Push consumers back into the legacy market (which then justifies bigger law enforcement and prison budgets)
Carve up what’s left for big corporations under a 3-tier system (producers–distributors–retailers) they already dominate in alcohol

The Human Cost: Farmer, Maker, Retailer

The episode wasn’t just policy talk. It was about real people.

Randy Rembert – The Farmer

Randy of Rembert Family Farms didn’t get into hemp to chase a fad. He started growing it to help his mom with her health conditions, then expanded to help others.

Over the last six years, his family has:

Invested $700,000–$800,000 into their farm
Put roughly $100,000 into R&D alone
Built a business on the promise of legal hemp and federal support programs

As a fourth-generation Black farmer tied to the Pigford class action, hemp wasn’t just a crop – it was a path to reclaiming land, wealth, and opportunity after a century of systemic attacks on Black farmers in Florida.

Now, he’s being told:

Pivot to fiber
Pivot to rope and clothing
Pivot to industrial hemp overnight

But as he explained, that’s fantasy without:

Hundreds of thousands of dollars in new equipment
More land (white farmers still own significantly more acreage on average)
Federal infrastructure and support that simply doesn’t exist

For Randy and many like him, CBD and medicinal hemp were the plan.The government invited them in, then pulled the rug out.

Mike Thompson – The Maker

Mike left corporate cannabis in 2022 and chose hemp on purpose:

No 280E tax penalty
Ability to get SBA loans and lines of credit
A truly federally legal path to operate in multiple states

He built Danko Ganja, a company making high-quality Belgian-style infused chocolates, precisely because the hemp framework allowed small and mid-sized operators to thrive.

From his vantage point, this new federal rider is:

A coordinated attack by big alcohol and big cannabis
A way to criminalize the most diverse, free-market corner of the cannabis landscape, where Black and brown entrepreneurs have actually been able to participate
The setup for a future 3-tier distribution monopoly over cannabis products, just like alcohol

He warned hemp operators to expect:

“Carrots” – offers to buy their companies or “bring them in”
Followed by pressure, regulatory harassment, or sudden problems if they refuse

And he was blunt: this next Florida legislative session is for the jugular.If the hemp industry doesn’t show up in Tallahassee, it may not survive.

Carlos Hermida – The Retailer

Carlos, as a retailer and owner of Chillum Mushroom & Hemp Dispensary, painted a picture of what’s already happening on the ground:

Police raids on convenience stores in Tampa
Products seized that are legal hemp items, tested and approved by the Florida Department of Agriculture
Immigrant shopkeepers in handcuffs, terrified, who thought they were running legitimate businesses
Field test kits that can’t distinguish federally legal hemp from federally illegal marijuana

He also pointed out something nobody in power likes to talk about:

Despite years of selling CBD, Delta-8, THCA, and other legal cannabinoids, he has:

Never had a customer report ending up in the ER from his products
Never been told a child was harmed by what he sells

Meanwhile, prohibitionists keep leaning on talking points about:

“Calls to poison control”
“Attractive to children” packaging

But they rarely, if ever, present real cases of serious harm – just rhetoric.

And with this federal rider, he and other retailers are now one bad photo op away from being treated like criminals, even while selling products vetted under state law.

Florida’s Next Battle: Session Is Coming

While the federal rider starts the one-year clock, Florida has its own storm brewing.

On the show, the guests warned that:

Legislators like Sen. Colleen Burton are expected to reintroduce hemp-killing bills
Those bills would likely try to front-run the federal ban, criminalizing hemp products at the state level before the 365 days are up
The same forces – big alcohol, big cannabis, big CPG – are already laying the PR groundwork with raids, press conferences, and scare stories

The stakes are huge. According to numbers cited on the podcast:

The hemp sector supports over 100,000 jobs in Florida
It generates an estimated $200–$400 million in sales tax revenue
Farmers have been whipsawed from “grow hemp, we’ll support you” to “hemp is now basically illegal”

Randy put it plainly: if this goes through, many hemp farms will not survive, and fourth-generation farmers like his family could lose their land to mortgage default.

Beyond Hemp: Prohibition Is Still Doing What It Does

In the NORML News segment, Chris zoomed out to show how this isn’t just a hemp story – it’s a prohibition story.

Recent federal moves include:

Removing language from a VA funding bill that would have finally allowed VA doctors to recommend medical cannabis to veterans in legal states
Continuing to uphold rules that bar vets from that care, despite overwhelming support among veterans themselves

Meanwhile, cannabis arrests are still:

A massive share of drug arrests in prohibition states
Overwhelmingly for simple possession, not trafficking
Driven by policies that ignore the mounting science on cannabis’ therapeutic and even neuroprotective effects in older adults

That last point hits especially hard after the episode highlighted Israeli research showing that older adults with cannabis experience performed better on cognitive tests than non-users.

So while science says:“Cannabis can help brains age better,”policy keeps saying:“Lock people up, keep vets away from it, and criminalize the plant in new ways.”

“One Plant, One Fight”: What We Do with the Next 365 Days

The episode closed on a clear message: division is exactly what our opponents want.

Hemp vs. marijuana.Farmers vs. processors vs. retailers.Small operators vs. MSOs.

If we take the bait, we lose.

Here’s what the Rotation crew and guests urged people to do:

1. Get educated and spread the word

Listen to the full “WTF Is Up With Hemp?” episode.
Share it with friends, customers, fellow business owners, and lawmakers.

2. Show up in Tallahassee

This upcoming Florida legislative session is make-or-break for hemp.
Business owners, employees, and consumers need to physically be there, in committee rooms and lawmakers’ offices.

3. Push Congress during the 365-day window

Use NORML’s action tools to contact your members of Congress and the White House.
Demand a sane regulatory model for hemp and cannabis that:
- Allows naturally occurring cannabinoids
- Protects small businesses and farmers
- Doesn’t criminalize full-spectrum CBD and low-dose products

4. Support the people in the supply chain

Shop with local farmers, processors, and independent retailers while you still can.
Avoid brands and trade groups that are openly lobbying to criminalize hemp.

5. Join and support NORML

Become a member of Suncoast NORML and national NORML.
Donate, volunteer, and share action alerts.
Support allied groups like the Florida Healthy Alternatives Association, who have already helped secure vetoes against bad hemp bills.

At one point near the end of the episode, Carlos summed it up in four simple words:

“It’s one plant, you know.”

Right now, that one plant has been carved into categories and legal fictions – hemp vs. marijuana, intoxicating vs. non-intoxicating – so lawmakers and corporations can play games in the shadows.

“WTF is up with hemp?”Short answer: pretty much everything.

But the longer answer is this:

The genie is out of the bottle.
A $28 billion industry doesn’t just vanish quietly.
We have 365 days at the federal level – and a crucial session in Florida – to decide whether this story ends with consolidation and criminalization, or with a truly fair, unified cannabis policy.

Suncoast NORML and The Rotation will be back next episode with national reform leaders who were “in the room where it happened” in DC, to keep unpacking this fight.

Until then:Get informed. Get loud. Get organized.And, as Gary and the crew signed off: