CANWORKS JOINS HBA ADVISORY BOARD
The Hemp Beverage Alliance is pleased to announce that Canworks has joined the Advisory Board and will bring the voice of the canning and packaging industry to the hemp beverage discussion. Brothers Ryan and Marshall Thompson formed the company in 2021, and now prints more than 500,000 cans a day in their three manufacturing facilities in Austin, San Diego and Atlanta.
The HBA Advisory Board provides critical insight, support and expertise on issues related to supply chain and distribution. Advisory board members provide recommendations on the Alliance’s policy positions, provide support with organizational growth, and collaborate on marketing and public relations.
“The packaging industry employs thousands of people who rely on the success of the hemp beverage category,” said Marshall Thompson. “Canworks is pleased to help the Hemp Beverage Alliance achieve our goals for sensible regulation which will bolster the success of the category.”
Canworks joins a roster of diverse companies on the HBA Advisory Board that includes: Alternative Horizons Group; Dartbank Specialty Banking; EVG Extracts; Frontier Risk; Northern Diversified Solutions; Perfectly Dosed; Redwood Beverage; Southern Crown Partners; and Surfside.
HEMP BEVERAGE ALLIANCE ON NPR’s “ALL THINGS CONSIDERED”
NPR heard from the Hemp Beverage Alliance about how the category has seen tremendous growth in the past few years, and how that could all come to an end if the federal ban is allowed to take effect in a year.
Listen to the story here.
HEMP BEVERAGE ALLIANCE MEMBERS JOIN MINNESOTA LAWMAKERS TO PUSH BACK AGAINST FEDERAL HEMP BAN
Minnesota lawmakers held a press conference today to voice their concern over the federal hemp ban that will cost thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenue for the state.
Minnesota U.S. senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith (both members of the Senate Agriculture Committee) and Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (co-chair of the House Cannabis Caucus) vowed to fight for federal legislation that would regulate and strengthen the hemp beverage industry.
“This is about jobs. It’s about our small businesses, our breweries and our farmers,” Klobuchar said, adding that hemp -infused products have brought in $16 million in Minnesota state tax revenue through September this year.
“While the ban doesn’t go into effect for a year, every day we fail to address this is another day of uncertainty in a very uncertain time in our economy.”
The lawmakers were joined by HBA members Ryan Kopperud of Birdie & Wild State Cider, Bob Galligan of the Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild, and Omar Ansari of Surly Brewing Company who all expressed their concerns about the current legislation that could effectively close the hemp beverage industry in one year’s time without new federal regulations.
FACT SHEET ON RECENT FEDERAL ACTION
HEMP BEVERAGES ARE ALREADY REGULATED AT THE STATE LEVEL
The 2018 Farm Bill expressly legalized hemp
In the absence of a federal regulatory framework, states have moved forward with their own regulations.
40 states have regulations on the books for hemp beverages
In almost every state, these frameworks include testing, age-gating, label requirements, and milligram caps.
The hemp beverage industry absolutely wants sensible regulations at the federal level.
THIS WEEK’S VOTE WAS A VOTE TO END THE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN, NOT TO CLOSE DOWN THE HEMP BEVERAGE INDUSTRY
This week’s vote to open the federal government was just that: a vote to open the government.
Unfortunately, the hemp beverage industry was a victim in that bill package. Language to shut down our industry was included without congressional debate or public discussion.
If there is a silver lining, it is that the long-term future of the hemp industry is now front and center with Congress and in the national media.
FOR NOW, IT’S BUSINESS AS USUAL. BUT CONGRESS MUST WORK WITH INDUSTRY TO CREATE A FEDERAL FRAMEWORK
The hemp beverage industry remains open for business this week, next week, next month, and next year.
States have already demonstrated how to regulate hemp beverages.
Stakeholders in the brewing, distribution, retail, convenience, and hemp beverage industries stand ready to work with Congress to get this done.
BILL DETAILS
Creates a ONE YEAR timeframe for implementation. In other words, hemp beverage legality stays status quo federally for one year from the time the bill is signed.
Creates a .4 mg per serving cap on beverages per container (not per serving).
There are no carveouts for different products or sales channels. This broad language affects the entire hemp industry in 365 days.
Federal law does not automatically change state law. States may need to modify their laws. There is no deadline by which states need to change their laws.
After one year, if there is no change to federal law, products above 0.4mg will be classified as either marijuana or a synthetic cannabinoid - both of which are Schedule 1 substances on the CSA.
HBA SUPPORTS REGULATIONS
HBA supports regulatory principles that set sensible limits for THC content, keep products away from children, provide robust product testing, and create tax revenues for the public benefit.
These principles can be found on the trade association’s website: hempbeveragealliance.org/principles.
HBA looks forward to working with Congress and other stakeholders to build a federal framework that works for everyone.
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HEMP BEVERAGE INDUSTRY CONTINUES TO THRIVE DESPITE CONGRESSIONAL SETBACK
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – The Hemp Beverage Alliance (HBA), the trade association for the hemp beverage industry with more than 375 member organizations, remains fully confident in the future of the industry, despite this week’s setback in Congress.
”For distributors, retailers and consumers who are wondering, the answer is simple: Hemp beverages continue to be a thriving category,” said Christopher Lackner, president, Hemp Beverage Alliance. “For people who want to produce, distribute, sell or enjoy hemp beverages, nothing changed this week, nothing will change next week, and nothing will change next month, or even next year.
”The only thing that has changed is now there is an even greater interest in creating a federal framework for hemp beverages.”
This week, Congress voted to open the government. Contained within that package was language to destroy the hemp industry without public discussion or congressional debate.
“This week’s vote to open the federal government was just that: a vote to open the government. Unfortunately, the hemp beverage industry was a victim in that bill package,” said Lackner,. ”If there is a silver lining to this terrible decision, it is that the long-term future of the hemp industry is now front and center with Congress.”
HBA supports regulatory principles that set sensible limits for THC content, keep products away from children, provide robust product testing, and create tax revenues for the public benefit. These principles can be found on the trade association’s website: hempbeveragealliance.org/principles.
Hemp beverages are seltzers, sodas, mocktails, coffees, teas, and other non-alcoholic drinks that contain a small infusion of hemp-derived cannabinoids. Since hemp was legalized in the 2018 Farm Bill, states like Minnesota, Kentucky, Georgia, Tennessee and others have developed regulatory frameworks to create a safe and thriving industry.
“Hemp beverages are the fastest growing adult beverage category in the country right now," said Lackner. "Our industry is creating jobs and tax revenues at a time when both are in great demand. We understand Congress was in a tough decision to vote against the thousands of people who are employed in this sector, which is why we are hopeful that they will reconvene very soon and create regulations that allow our category to thrive.”
About the Hemp Beverage Alliance
The mission of the Hemp Beverage Alliance is to create a safe and thriving industry through education, advocacy, best practices and partnership. We achieve this by providing consumers, retailers, and distributors with the information they need to better understand the industry; developing best practices to create consistency in labeling and manufacturing; working with elected officials and regulators to encourage common-sense regulation; and collaborating with cannabis and alcohol industries to create a marketplace that benefits everyone. More at: hempbeveragealliance.org.
Hemp and cannabis attorneys respond to NAAG: Prohibition is a “disastrous policy”
Today the Attorneys Committee of the Hemp Beverage Alliance sent a letter to Congressional leadership, in response to a recent letter sent to Congress by the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG). Here’s what they said:
The Honorable Susan Collins
The Honorable Tom Cole
The Honorable John Boozman
The Honorable Glenn “GT” ThompsonDear Chairs:
We, the undersigned attorneys supporting and representing clients in the hemp industry, many of whom are members of the Hemp Beverage Alliance (HBA), write to you in response to the October 24, 2025 letter from the National Association of Attorneys General (the “AG Letter”), in opposition to a “hemp ban” contained in the Fiscal Year 2026 Agriculture Appropriations bill, Section 759 (the “Appropriations Bill”), and in support of reasonable and appropriate regulations for consumable hemp products.
As noted in the AG Letter, the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 legalized hemp under federal law. Hemp is a legislative construct. Both hemp and cannabis come from the same plant, Cannabis Sativa L. The difference is that hemp is grown to under 0.3% THC on a dry weight basis, and regulated cannabis (which remains federally illegal under the Controlled Substances Act) is grown to over 0.3% THC and sold in state-legal dispensaries. We agree with our State Attorneys General that, like other industries, there are bad actors in the hemp market that create products that illegally copy brands and sell to minors; however, we strongly assert that banning all hemp derivatives is an overbroad, disastrous policy that would punish responsible commerce and exacerbate the very problems the AGs seek to solve.
Over 40 states have finished hemp product regulations including more than a dozen states with robust regulatory frameworks, including Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Louisiana, New York, Tennessee, Minnesota, Georgia, Kentucky, Iowa, and Virginia. Other states are moving in the same direction of regulating versus banning (see, for example, Ohio and Texas). These state laws and regulations outline new licensing requirements for retail and manufacturing and include mandated testing, age gates (online and in store), label requirements (including warnings), disclosures, marketing restrictions, direct-to-consumer rules and restrictions, potency limits, and penalties for noncompliance. Compliance is generally overseen by either agriculture, cannabis or alcohol state agencies.
Most of these states have also defined and banned synthetic cannabinoids, including the cannabinoids listed in the AG letter, like Delta-8, Delta-10, THC-O, THCP, and HHC. These states are doing the work necessary to create a regulatory framework that protects adult consumers while dramatically decreasing the likelihood of children accessing hemp-derived products. These states are also engaging in enforcement activities, both with respect to the packaging and labeling of these products (see, for example, Florida and Missouri) and direct to consumer shipments (see, for example, Iowa, Oregon, Colorado and Maryland).
The AG Letter overreaches in a number of instances. For example, the signatories posit that “state efforts to outlaw hemp-derived psychoactive products to protect their citizens cannot solve this problem” and that “[s]uch efforts only lead to an uneven and ineffectual patchwork of bans and regulations that differ from State to State.” The AG Letter claims that state laws “will not stop the flood of mail-order THC products from streaming through interstate commerce.” We respectfully disagree.
As attorneys who practice in the world of intoxicating products, we are accustomed to advising on and complying with disparate state laws, rules, and guidance. Alcohol is subject to a “patchwork” of state laws and regulations across all 50 states and enforcement has effectively stopped any illegal mail-order alcohol from streaming through interstate commerce. Cannabis products are banned in a number of states and highly regulated in others, and yet our clients follow the applicable rules by managing state-level compliance specific to each state. These clients are manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, brand owners, retailers, packagers, blenders, and all of the ancillary businesses that service the consumable hemp industry.
The same holds true for the hemp industry. The businesses that we work with and support have been asking for regulations for years, including from the FDA, and are eager to work within defined regulatory frameworks, even if those frameworks might differ on a state-by-state basis. Far from being “ineffectual,” the states with hemp regulations, like Minnesota and Georgia, have found hemp businesses to be upstanding members of their communities who are just as interested in protecting children from intoxicating products as their state legislators. In addition, these states have embraced certain hemp-derived products, like hemp-derived THC beverages, as an alternative to alcohol. Some states like California, put emergency regulations in place, with 99.8% compliance – hardly ineffectual – and are now rolling consumable hemp products into their existing cannabis regulatory framework.
While we appreciate the efforts of our Attorneys General to protect the public from harm, and we agree that regulations are needed across the country, banning hemp products with any traceable THC via the appropriations process is not the way forward, especially when there has been little to no debate on this topic by Members of Congress. As House Representative James Comer from Kentucky noted in a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson opposing the ban:
“The inclusion of this language in the FY26 Agriculture-FDA Appropriations Bill clearly violates the prohibition in clause 2(b) of rule XXI of the rules of the House of Representatives, which provides that ‘a provision changing existing law may not be reported in a general appropriation bill.’”
Indeed, it appears that some of the Attorneys General who signed the letter do not actually support the currently proposed hemp ban in the Appropriations Bill. Last week, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who signed the AG Letter, clarified his position with a Substack post titled, “Minnesota is developing a craft THC industry to be proud of.” In the post, AG Ellison acknowledged that he had created confusion on his position by signing the AG Letter and clarified that he is “and will remain a supporter of Minnesota’s THC edible industry that follows state law, supports businesses, farmers, and entrepreneurs across Minnesota, and creates products that people enjoy.” He further clarified that “[o]ne of the primary reasons [he] signed onto the letter is to ensure this industry continues to thrive.”
Similarly, in response to an email from one of the signatories to this letter, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser clarified that he “supports closing legal loopholes that allow the sale of recreational synthetic Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) products without proper disclosure and regulation, not the outright banning of hemp products. Attorney General Weiser believes that this is an important mechanism to ensure consistent age restrictions, labeling standards, and safety requirements for these products.” (emphasis added)
Reading AG Ellison’s Substack and AG Weiser’s clarifying email response, it is clear that their desire to “close the loophole” that made hemp federally legal does not mean that they want a full ban, as is currently proposed in the Appropriations Bill. Instead, like those of us signing this letter, AG Ellison and AG Weiser want smart regulations that protect consumers.
Putting aside the confusion created by the AG Letter, and the flawed process of using a funding bill to “close the loophole,” the impact of such a ban cannot be understated. The hemp industry at large, including the industrial hemp farmers who the Attorneys General argue will be unscathed by such a ban, will in fact be decimated, particularly if no detectable THC is permitted in consumable products, as is currently included in the Appropriations Bill. Such a rule would make nonintoxicating CBD products illegal as well, something we believe the Attorneys General signing this letter do not support.
American farmers are already struggling mightily – this will be the nail in the coffin. The hemp industry supports 320,000 American jobs and generates $28.4 billion in regulated market activity. In Texas alone, a ban would shut down approximately 6,350 businesses, force job losses for 40,000 citizens, and destroy $7.5 billion in economic activity. In Minnesota, a ban would shutter 5,345 retailers licensed to sell hemp-derived edibles and beverages. These figures underscore the importance of preserving a regulated hemp market to support small businesses, farmers, and local economies. Consumers also want these products. Of significance, companies like Total Wine & More, Binny’s, Target, Circle K, Fresh Thyme, Doordash and others are now carrying hemp-derived lower potency edibles and beverages, and consumers are thrilled to have an alternative to alcohol.
As attorneys who work in the hemp industry, we ask that Congress allow the states to continue to regulate hemp products and avoid inclusion of a hemp ban in the Appropriations Bill that will prevent adult consumers from accessing these products and have a disastrous impact on so many well intentioned, hard-working, small business owners, who welcome a regulated environment.
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Alcohol distributors rally in support of hemp beverages.
More than 50 alcohol distributors from across the county sent a letter to Congress today, urging them to regulate hemp beverages. Here’s what they said:
Dear Speaker Johnson, Minority Leader Jeffries, Majority Leader Thune, Minority Leader Schumer,
On behalf of beer, wine, and spirits wholesalers across the United States, we respectfully urge Congress to avoid language that would create a prohibition on intoxicating hemp consumable products. Instead, we offer our support to help Congress effectively regulate and tax these products like alcohol.
We applaud the 2018 Farm Bill for unlocking new opportunities for American farmers, entrepreneurs, manufacturers, and wholesalers, like ourselves. Many of us are 3rd, 4th, and even 5th-generation American family businesses that have responsibly sold alcohol since the repeal of prohibition with the 21st Amendment in 1933. Our collective operations represent over $13 Billion in revenue, 20,000 employees, and span 26 States.
As demand for alcohol has shifted downwards in recent years, hemp products have created jobs, driven new investment, and helped us meet changing consumer demand. If prohibition is enacted, that demand will not disappear—it will simply move into unregulated channels, undermining both public health, safety and legitimate businesses.
The debate on hemp derived products is very analogous to the debate our forefathers endured at the beginning of the 20th Century. The 18th Amendment banned alcohol in 1919, but the ensuing 14 years of prohibition only created a thriving illicit market and a significant number of bad actors. Our forefathers realized the only way to eliminate these bad actors was to establish a robust regulatory framework where each State was given the authority to regulate products safely within its borders in a manner that respected the ethos of the citizens.
After the 2018 Farm Bill’s passing, a significant amount of American ingenuity led to the creation of many of the consumable hemp products on the market today. As a result, States have risen to the occasion to regulate and protect their citizens. As of this writing, all 50 States have implemented laws related to hemp. Additionally, 40 States have established a regulatory framework for consumable hemp products, with others planning debates in their next session.
We fully appreciate concerns regarding product integrity, underage access, and public safety. We offer nearly 100 years’ experience of safely bringing regulated beverages to market and keeping illicit products out. Adulterated and illicit alcohol is not an issue in America thanks to strong state-based regulations, trade practice rules, and laws that support wholesaler independence. With a century of alcohol experience, we welcome the opportunity to help educate Congress on how best to regulate intoxicating consumable hemp products.
We respectfully urge you to oppose efforts to close the so-called “hemp loophole” through any spending package or Farm Bill. Instead, we urge you to work with our industry to create comprehensive rules that protect communities, ensure product safety, and give responsible companies the certainty we need to operate safely and successfully. We stand ready to partner with you in this process.
Thank you for your consideration.
Tell Congress: Stop the Hemp Beverage Ban!
As we discussed on this week’s call, we are urging HBA members to immediately contact their U.S. senators and representatives and urge them to remove appropriations bill language that would kill the hemp beverage industry.
Please click here for guidance on how to craft an email and send it to your elected officials. Be sure to provide any feedback in the #fda-and-congress Slack channel.
MICHIGAN LAWMAKERS LOOK TO HEMP BEVERAGES FOR NEW STATE REVENUE SOURCE
A plan to regulate hemp beverage sales in the Michigan is seen as a source of needed revenue for the state, an example for other legislatures to follow.
"The real substance of proposed hemp regulations has yet to be finalized,” State Rep. Joseph Aragona, R-Clinton Township emphasized to Crain’s Detroit Business, but he said if it ultimately gets through the Legislature, the move could provide “hundreds of millions of dollars” in new taxes to help pay for various infrastructure needs.
“We’re still working out those details,” Aragona said. “In general, this should be hundreds of millions of dollars in additional revenue, easy.”
The news comes at a time when Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and lawmakers are struggling to figure out new income streams to pay for road repairs across the state.
Read the full article here (paywall protected): Crain’s Detroit Business
HBA SPEAKS WITH LEGISLATORS IN MICHIGAN ABOUT SENSIBLE REGULATION
HBA President Christopher Lackner recently testified about the need for sensible regulations on hemp beverages before the Michigan House Regulatory Reform Committee. Watch the testimony here.