by Jesse Parenti
Regulate.
Don’t Recriminalize.
Hemp-derived THC has officially entered the ring.
And the alcohol industry can’t decide whether to fight it or join it.
One day, distributors beg Congress to regulate and tax hemp beverages like alcohol.
The next major lobbies demand a total shutdown until “federal clarity” arrives.
That’s not confusion—it’s competition.
Billions are on the line.
And hemp-derived THC is changing how America drinks, farms, and insures risk.
Why this matters:
The 2018 Farm Bill opened the door for hemp innovation.
Now, with the government in shutdown limbo, Congress has slipped in language that bans hemp-derived intoxicants entirely.
If that happens, an entire category of legitimate operators disappears overnight.
The irony?
Some of the same companies that once fought alcohol prohibition now want to impose it on hemp.
But the market—and the consumer—has moved on.
Hemp-derived THC isn’t the problem.
Lack of regulation is.
The answer isn’t prohibition.
It’s accountability.
Smart operators already test, label, and manage their risks responsibly.
The rest will either adapt—or get left behind.
Who will shape the rules—the regulators or the risk managers?
What happens when hemp out-innovates alcohol?
And how many industries have to collapse before we learn from Prohibition twice?
The future of hemp-derived THC isn’t politics.
It’s policy.
It’s economics.
It’s inevitable.
Regulate it.
Insure it.
Legitimize it.
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