Many of you are now aware of the looming federal hemp ban. While Minnesota lawmakers assure us hemp beverages will survive in our regulated state, what you may not know is how serious this is to small hemp businesses in Minnesota and across the country. Access to the products you've come to enjoy and in some cases rely on will change.
If Congress does not approve the proposed extension of the ban or support the proposed framework for legal hemp proposed by Representative Andy Barr or the beverage-specific legislation from Representative Beth Van Duyne, small hemp based businesses will not survive.
Thank you to Senator Tim Sheehy from Montana and Senator Amy Klobuchar from Minnesota along with many others for their strong advocacy on our behalf.
What you may not know is....
If the ban goes through, beverages may still be allowed for sale in Minnesota, however the stores you are accustomed to purchasing them from will change. Dispensaries may be the only retail channel option.
- Gummies and edibles will only be sold in dispensaries
- Beverages if allowed in liquor stores may be capped to 5 mg only
- No sales across state lines
- Out-of-state shipping banned
- Interstate sales prohibited
Why? Hemp will become a Schedule I drug sitting alongside drugs like cocaine and heroine. This means that even if a state like Minnesota allows it, it is illegal by federal standards and therefore cannot continue to operate as we do now. We won't be allowed to sell our products to anyone other than a licensed cannabis wholesaler.
This forces current MN hemp manufacturers to obtain a cannabis license in order to produce the products you love and limits our sales channels to ONE (cannabis dispensaries within Minnesota). It forces all other states whom do not have a legal cannabis framework to make it illegal to produce or purchase.
At first glance, ok survives in MN. If you take a deeper look at why it is such a big deal, the change makes it nearly impossible for hemp brands in MN and around the country to survive.
The entire supply chain will be affected not to mention the loss of thousands of jobs!
- Hemp farmers
- Hemp extractors/manufacturers
- Packaging suppliers
- Ingredient suppliers
- Co-manufacturers (our local breweries)
- Wholesalers/Distribution
- Retail sales
- Insurance providers
- Banking institutions
- Credit Card processors
- Transportation companies
There are very few small business who have the ability to invest in the infrastructure needed to switch to cannabis and remain profitable under federal tax rules. Wikid included.
Here's the irony in reclassifying hemp to a Schedule I drug. The feds are in the process of rescheduling marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III. This gives state legal cannabis companies federal tax relief from 280E, gives them access to banking, credit card processors, institutional investors, insurance, etc, while also paving the way for pharmaceutical research. Shifting hemp to Schedule I puts all those restrictions in place for hemp.
Doesn't make sense does it? Let us not forget the powerful interests of those who will benefit from the reclassification, such as pharmaceuticals, the liquor industry (some support, others do not), cannabis and a whole host of related interested parties. What it does not support is the entire hemp supply chain or consumers.
My opinion: Why this is all happening comes down to "money, power and greed," something we are all becoming more and more aware of. The country destroys an entire industry to support the already deep pockets of those who have the most to gain from it.
Make your voice heard. Tell your representatives you don't support the ban. Please support us with your purchases as much as you can until Nov 11. Our goal is to empty our warehouse of products that cannot be sold after Nov. 11.
Andrea C.
CEO, Wikid