A member of the team behind the scenes that drafted the law to legalize hemp in the first year of President Donald Trump’s presidency says there’s no truth to the myth that Congress created an “loophole”, allowing the sale of cannabinoid-based products with a high level of intoxication.
Steve Bevan, in an open letter sent to Republican leaders, said that rather than outright ban such products as some GOPers have suggested, this controversy is the direct result of the inaction on the part of legislators and regulators.
Bevan—who worked with then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to help draft the hemp language contained in the 2018 Farm Bill—said proponents of re-criminalizing intoxicating cannabinoid products “claim it’s about protecting children from dangerous products,” yet “simple age gating and responsible consumption resolve this.”
“Instead of focusing on citizens’ access to wellness and the positive economic benefits being realized from the national hemp experiment–it worked!–they bizarrely suggest a return to prohibition,” he said in the letter, which was shared exclusively with MEDCAN24.
This message is in response to an earlier letter from 39 attorneys general of state and territories who asked legislators to restrict the market for consumable hemp by prohibiting intoxicating products.
McConnell is leading the charge to have such products banned again. He has said that he, along with his colleagues, only wanted to permit industrial hemp uses, and made exceptions to CBD which does not intoxicate. Bevan said this wasn’t the exact case.
“We specifically added language about ‘extracts, derivatives, and cannabinoids’ to the definition of hemp to help American farmers and rural communities build businesses around hemp-derived products,” he said. Senator McConnell changed the definition. This wasn’t an accident or a loophole—it was intentional to ensure that the farmers of Kentucky newly producing hemp—could reach markets with their new crop.”
Bevan is a former co-founder of U.S. Hemp Roundtable, and now an OCan Group partner. He said, during the writing of hemp provisions in the Farm Bill: “We asked federal regulators for quality and safety standards.”
“That’s common sense—you test food before people eat it, right? “The FDA has refused to regulate hemp products, even after Congress ordered them to do so,” said he, echoing the complaints of bipartisan legislators and industry stakeholders in the past years.
Then we told them: [FDA] He said that without regulations, products would be popularized, the quality would change, age restrictions would not exist, and customers would have no idea what they were buying. “The FDA responded by remaining silent for more than two years. They then sent out warning letters at the end of 2024. Too little, too late.”
Bevan founded GenCanna, a cannabis company that declared bankruptcy in 2020. He said Congress has not addressed the issue of intoxicating hemp, which is already popular among a large portion of adults. Prohibition would only boost the illegal market. The industry thrived in spite of lack of federal assistance, and criminalizing it would have the same consequences as the drug wars that the United States has experienced in the past.
It is suggested in the letter that an important reason why attorneys general support a prohibition could be the fact that most signatories work for states and territories which have marijuana legalized. The businesses they represent “compete directly with hemp-based products.”
He stated that “instead of competing based on price or quality, these AGs would like Congress to eliminate the competition.” Think about it. Your state’s top law enforcement official wants to criminalize products that millions of adults use—not because they’re dangerous, but because they’re cutting into state tax revenue.”
The report concludes with “two choices” Congress has: They can either move to ban the cannabinoid-infused products, launching “another war on drugs” and ignoring consumer demands or create a framework that regulates the hemp industry and establishes the “rules and standards that were supposed to exist from the beginning” in the interest of all stakeholders.
Bevan says that, if businesses choose to go with the latter, they should first set age restrictions for purchases of hemp. They also need a time period during which their business can get in compliance with any regulations.
“The question isn’t whether to regulate hemp products—clearly we should. He said the question was whether or not we would do so intelligently. “The real issue is whether we will repeat prohibition’s failures one more time, and lose another chance for American innovation and leadership,” he added. “Millions Americans have chosen their path. These products are what they want. They deserve safe, regulated acces—not criminalization. “It’s time that Congress listened to people and not only tax collectors.”
Meanwhile, a coalition of major alcohol industry associations is throwing its weight behind the push to get Congress to ban intoxicating hemp products—at least on a temporary basis before the federal government creates a “robust regulatory framework” for the marketplace.
The hemp debate has been a source of pressure for lawmakers as they work on finalizing appropriations bills. On one side, some groups have endorsed controversial proposals for an outright prohibition of intoxicating cannabinoids, and the other group is calling for a more comprehensive regulatory approach to prevent the industry from suffering significant economic consequences.
There’s been a surge in congressional lobbying from major alcohol companies and associations in recent months, with stakeholders aiming to influence federal hemp laws that focus on THC beverages that many consumers are turning to as beer and liquor alternatives.
As Congress continues to navigate a path forward on funding legislation to end an ongoing government shutdown, lawmakers are still at work attempting to reach a deal on federal hemp laws—with one GOP senator telling MEDCAN24 that multiple options are on the table, though it will ultimately come down to what leadership wants.
Two GOP lawmakers—McConnell and Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD)—have pushed aggressively for an outright ban on hemp products containing THC. Others, such as Senator Rand Paul (R KY), have claimed that a change in policy would destroy the hemp industry. Paul recently said he would go as far to block large-scale legislation in the event that a ban on all spending was maintained.
Senators also took issue with a recent letter by state and territorial attorneys general, who urged Republican leaders to stop the sale of hemp-based products that are intoxicating.
Some of these people came from states where marijuana was legalized and now they want to ban hemp. He said, “That’s absurd.” “They prefer to have people consume a high dose of THC in cannabis over lower-dose hemp. “It doesn’t make sense.”
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As far as legislative options go, Paul did put forward legislative language recently to require a study and report on state regulatory models for hemp that could inform future revisions to the federal law—rather than prohibit sales altogether, as McConnell would have it.
In August, McConnell–who ushered in the federal legalization of hemp under the 2018 Farm Bill–took to the Senate floor to criticize those who opposed the ban, including Paul.
Meanwhile, Paul recently filed a standalone bill that would go in the opposite direction of the hemp ban, proposing to triple the concentration of THC that the crop could legally contain, while addressing multiple other concerns the industry has expressed about federal regulations.
He introduced legislation in June entitled the Hemp Economic Mobilization Plan Act. It mirrors versions he’s sponsored over the last several sessions.
Bevan’s letter to Congressmen on hemp prohibition proposal is below.
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