Its Monday morning and Jan H. is starting her day. At 78 years old, after two hip replacements and knee surgery, she says pain has unfortunately become part of her everyday life. Thankfully the products available at her local hemp dispensary have helped. Like many from her generation, it wasn’t u ntil the Farm Bill passed in 2018 and hemp derived THC became legally available that Jan became curious about trying cannabis as a way to address her health challenges. This availability has been a game changer for her quality of life. “I’ve tried pharmaceutical options in the past, but for me, they often left me feeling groggy, tired and like I didn’t want to do anything,” she says. “At my age, I don’t want to spend my days feeling that way. I want to enjoy them.”              Jan H. is not the only one. According to Nancy Roberts, co-owner and CEO of One Love Hemp Dispensary, a large proportion of the clientele who visit their recreational dispensaries are repeat customers who use the products exclusively to address serious health concerns like cancer, insomnia, PTSD and MS.              “We serve thousands of adults,” says Roberts, “many are over 50 and use our products for sleep, pain relief, relaxation… It is a safe alternative to alcohol that is easy on the liver and is not addictive. We have helped countless people have better, healthier and happier lives.”  Unlike the products at Kentucky’s new medical marijuana facilities that tout hefty price tags and low dosage restrictions on gummies, these hemp derived products are significantly more affordable and offer options with the higher milligrams necessary to address more severe ailments. The barriers to access hemp derived products are also significantly lower. Consumers don’t have to jump through the expensive and time-consuming hoops that they do when applying and paying annually for a medical marijuana card. There is no need to see a doctor to get qualified. They merely have to be 21 or over and bring a legal ID to prove it.  Roberts and co-owner of One Love, Jana Groda, are rigorous about the vetting of their merchandise for purity and safety, assuring they adhere to current regulatory standards outlined by the state and have certificates of analysis that detail the chemical make-up of each product on their website. Likewise, their employees are meticulously trained—most are certified cannabis consultants and interpeners (think weed sommelier) from the Trichome Institute.              Unfortunately, due to the upcoming federal hemp ban, a provision introduced by Senator Mitch McConnell, access to hemp-derived goods may soon be coming to a screeching halt on November 12th, leaving those who depend on them for sleep or chronic pain, high and dry. Roberts worries that if the hemp ban goes into effect these same customers may be driven to travel out of state to procure their products or, even worse, to a completely unsafe black market. As for Jan H., she worries about losing her quality of life saying, “hearing that products like the ones I rely on could potentially be taken away genuinely scares me. I know how I felt before I found them, and I know how I feel when I go without them. The thought of having to return to days when I had less energy, more discomfort and nights when I couldn’t get the rest I needed is very concerning to me.” Not only that, but the ban will decimate what a 2026 report by Whitney Economics estimates is a $47-$65 billion-dollar industry. According to the Associated Press, between 300,000 to 400,000 jobs will be lost and approximately 1.5 billion dollars in tax revenue will be forfeited. Efforts to delay the ban are in motion even as this article is being written with new developments every day. Currently, a month-long extension to delay the ban until December 12th has already passed the senate and is expected to be pushed through by the U.S. House of Representatives at the beginning of September. That’s one more month for law-makers and hemp advocates to try to scramble together a plan to save this industry and prevent the fall-out. Interestingly, hemp is not new to Kentucky– or even the nation.  The industry Senator McConnell’s provision is set to destroy dominated Kentucky’s agricultural marketplace long before tobacco and corn.  According to the record, the first hemp crop in Kentucky was planted near Danville in 1775. It was used for all kinds of industrial purposes like textiles, paper, vehicle insulation and even as rope for many of the boats that went into battle during WWI. Some historians even claim some of the first American flags were made from hemp. It remained a prolific crop well into the 1920’s. However, with the passage of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, its production was banned across the United States. From 1970 to 2018 all parts of a cannabis plant and its derivatives were considered marijuana and thereby a Schedule 1 controlled substance.   It wasn’t until 2018 with the passage of the Agricultural Improvement Act, also known as the Farm Bill, that the longstanding restrictions on the cultivation of hemp was eliminated. The Farm Bill removed hemp and derivatives of cannabis with extremely low concentrations of the psychoactive compound delta-9-THC (no more than 0.3 percent THC on a dry weight basis), from the definition of marijuana in the Controlled Substances Act. The Agriculture Improvement Act that sought to provide farmers with more opportunities did that and so much more.   Opening the door to hemp led to a diverse and flourishing cannabis marketplace, creating all kinds of new jobs, businesses and tax revenue to boot. During testimony in 2019, then Principal Deputy Commissioner of the FDA, Dr. Amy Abernethy stated that the result of the Farm Bill “has been that storefronts and online retailers have flooded the market with these products… FDA has seen CBD appear in a wide variety of products including foods, dietary supplements, veterinary products, and cosmetics.” Abernathy went on to say, “As this new market emerges, we have seen substantial interest from industry, consumers, and Congress. However, in the midst of the excitement and innovation, FDA’s role remains the same: to protect and promote the public health.” But the years that followed did not provide a consistent regulatory framework. And that volatility was both frustrating and confusing for business owners and consumers.   “For businesses like ours, compliance isn’t something we resist,” says Roberts of One Love Hemp Dispensary, “it has unfortunately become a full-time job. We have changed products, packaging, vendors and operating procedures repeatedly as regulations have changed. We’ve removed products from shelves, reformulated products, changed how and where products can be sold and invested significant amounts of money trying to stay open and operate legally. What frustrates us the most about the current situation is responsible hemp businesses have been supporting sensible regulation for years. Yet it seems we are the group that takes most of the hits. We are still competing against hundreds of irresponsible businesses selling illegal products, yet the focus has remained on responsible hemp businesses that are selling third party tested, safe and compliant products.”  Roberts points to the fact that it isn’t hemps legal presence that is the problem, but the lack of a consistent regulatory framework to protect consumers and provide industry operatives with dependable rules to run their business by. Consumers have also been met with confusion as beloved products that are available to them one week may suddenly disappear from shelves overnight. But the upcoming legislation due to go into law at the end of this year will be the most devastating yet, and many consumers of hemp may not even know it’s coming.  Back in 2025, as negotiations dragged on to reopen the government during a historically long shut down, Senator Mitch McConnell saw his opportunity to close what he claimed was a “dangerous loophole” in the Farm Bill.  In the final hours, as pressure mounted to pass government funding bill H.R. 5371, Senator McConnell and Representative Andy Harris (R-MD) tacked on a provision that would recriminalize hemp. Specifically, the provision adds the laws that mandate no more than 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container, no cannabinoids, regardless of concentration, that are synthesized or manufactured outside the cannabis plant and no cannabinoids with similar effects to THC as determined by the Department of Health and Human Services. This would remove around 95% of the hemp marketplace, estimate industry executives, and offer no viable option for hemp businesses to stay afloat. McConnell claims his motivation stems from the intoxicating products being marketed to children, noting their resemblance to popular snacks and candies and their widespread availability in corner stores and gas stations. When approached for comment on the ban and possible extension, McConnell’s Communications Director Stephanie Penn stated, “Senator McConnell is firmly opposed to the extended delay on the regulation of hemp included in the continuing resolution. This extension would continue to expose our nation’s children to unregulated, intoxicating, hemp-derived THC products.”  However, hemp advocates claim more clear regulation, standards for packaging and consistent enforcement would prevent most of these issues. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are hustling to save hemp.  “Gov. Beshear, believes protections can be put in place for children without hurting an industry that supports a lot of people– especially those in our agriculture industry,” says Scottie Ellis, Communications Director for Gov. Besehear. “Congress has the power to address this ban, and therefore Kentucky’s Congressional Delegation should step up to protect our people, their livelihoods and our economy.” In late July, US Rep Angie Craig (D-MN) and Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) introduced the Lawful Hemp Protection Act (H.R. 9830) to propose a federal regulatory framework for lawful hemp. Before that, Senator Rand Paul introduced the Bipartisan Hemp Safety Enforcement Act that would empower states and Tribal governments to oversee their own regulation. Though none of these bills have come to fruition, hemp advocates continue to explore solutions.  When asked how lawmakers like McConnell are preparing for the massive economic impacts and widespread job loss following the ban, McConnell’s office had little to say–only deferring to McConnell’s floor remarks from November 11, 2025, during which the senator stated, “Industrial hemp and CBD will remain legal for industrial applications — such as seed, stock, fiber, grain oil.” Yet, talking to Kentucky’s farmers tells a different story. Many like Jason Marshall, Judge/Executive for Harrison County and former hemp farmer, says there is no viable marketplace for industrial hemp in Kentucky.  “There’s no infrastructure, no processing facilities, no buyers… the only thing that’s established in Kentucky with hemp is CBD. So, as far as industrial hemp or textiles, we have no infrastructure and no markets that I’m aware of. I’ve been involved for about 12 years now and I don’t know of any market that I could produce a textile hemp crop and sell it to.” As a result, Marshall says none of the farmers he knows have planted hemp this year. In fact, according to Abram Phillips, a farmer interviewed by Louisville Public Media in August, many farmers are still sitting on large biomasses of hemp from last year as demand and prices for their product dropped dramatically in immediate response to the legislation’s passage in November of last year.  “As an official and farmer, it’s going to be a great loss to the state of Kentucky,” says Marshall, “You know, it could have been a great opportunity for the Kentucky farmers, Kentucky small business owners, and it’s just really sad that this has become political. I feel like we’re being banned because of alcohol, pharmaceuticals and just being lobbied heavily by competitors. It’s a great loss of opportunity for Kentucky.” As the sad march towards prohibition continues, it’s worth noting that even if lawmakers are able to scrabble together a longer extension or maybe even pass legislation to actually save the hemp industry entirely, there is damage that has already been done. For example, Devin Foley, founder of Pop’s Premium, a company that produces hemp derived vape and edibles, was recently forced to shut down his business. As a father of three children trying to support his family he was no longer able to employ the “wait and see” strategy. After starting Pop’s Premium in late 2021 and experiencing significant success, Foley was able to grow his business, at one point employing up to eight people. He was also able to provide a better life for his family, buying a new, bigger house and vehicles for he and his wife. Then, everything changed after the passage of the hemp ban in November 2025 and Foley noticed a sharp decrease in orders.  “Our sales have basically plummeted to almost nothing,” he says, “we were projecting for November [2026] being the end but we didn’t anticipate that the sales would just come to a complete halt like this.” Foley’s plan is to sell off what merchandise he has and cut his losses– though he concedes doing so will not provide even enough financial return to begin his next venture. He also worries about keeping up with his current cost of living in an already economically challenging time. His predicament, unlike some businesses, was not caused by improper management or bad choices, but instead by circumstances outside his control. Now, as he prepares to close down permanently, he points to the hypocrisy of the ban, telling a story about grocery shopping with two of his kids. “I went for groceries the other day and my five-year-old daughter and nine-year-old son ran up to these drinks begging me to buy them. The drinks that they were intensely attracted to were alcohol that looked like Yoo-hoo and I think the other was a Trix cereal flavor,” says Foley, “I don’t understand how one of the biggest arguments for politicians to ban hemp is marketing toward children, or accessibility to kids when these alcoholic products are on the end cap at arm’s reach.” Like many from the cannabis world, Foley believes part of the motivation for the ban may have been pressure from the alcohol industry. Currently, some of the proposed legislation to save hemp includes the possibility that cannabis, specifically THC drinks, would be overseen by the TTB (Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau). Cannabis business owners have related trepidation about this possibility, likening it to being policed by their competitor.   Today, congressional researchers and hemp industry operatives are still patiently waiting on the FDA’s guidelines outlining which cannabinoids are covered in the ban and recommendations on hemp product containers. The information, which is critical for legal compliance, is now six months late, legally due back in early February. This quagmire has created even greater disruption for the hemp product industry in the interim all while thousands teeter on the precipice of joblessness.   “I think people hear ‘hemp industry’ and imagine a handful of vape shops,” says Nancy Roberts, One Love owner, “They don’t realize how large the industry actually is– there are farmers, extraction facilities, manufacturers, testing laboratories, packaging companies, printers, graphic designers, delivery companies, warehouses, distributors, sales representatives, accountants, software providers, landlords and thousands of retail employees whose livelihoods are connected to hemp.” Though we can track how many dollars are due to be lost if the federal hemp ban stands, seeing the human and community cost all round us will truly bring those numbers to life. When we encounter citizens left jobless, families unable to pay their bills, buildings left empty, and businesses shuttered its worth asking who we are really protecting here– especially when a little bit of common-sense legislation and work on the part of lawmakers could save it all.  You can weigh in on the federal hemp ban by contacting your US Representative or reaching out to Members of Congress’ offices through the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121. When you call, ask to be connected to the office of your legislator. The post HIGH AND DRY – Lawmakers’ Hemp Ban Aims to Destroy the Industry they Created appeared first on LEO Weekly | Louisville Eccentric Observer. ...read more read less