Inside the Hemp Industry’s Last-Ditch Plan to Stop Federal Restrictions

Hemp industry stakeholders are building support for a new proposal that addresses federal hemp regulation.

A newly launched national campaign promotes the Goodness of Hemp Act, a proposed federal legislation drafted in 2026 by hemp industry stakeholders and advocacy groups. The draft legislative framework seeks to keep access to compliant hemp products and establishes stronger consumer protections. It creates federal pathways for CBD wellness products and low-dose hemp beverages and draws clearer distinctions between hemp and regulated cannabis as lawmakers debate the future of the industry.

According to supporters, the proposal seeks to support the industrial hemp industry by expanding its potential applications in fiber, grain, and other agricultural markets.

“This is a defining moment for cannabinoids in America—we have a chance to protect consumers, create clear lanes between hemp and regulated cannabis, and unlock hemp’s full potential as a once-in-a-generation agricultural opportunity,” Morgan Tweet, CEO of IND HEMP and executive director of the Hemp Feed Coalition, told IgniteIt exclusively.

Tweet highlighted how the proposal differs from competing legislative ideas.

“Most proposals solve one problem; Goodness of Hemp solves the whole equation by pairing meaningful guardrails for intoxicating products with a long-term vision for hemp as an agricultural commodity,” she said.

In the meantime, the new proposal comes as Congress is weighing potential changes to federal hemp policy. The 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp nationwide. However, the hemp market in the U.S. is set to face new federal restrictions scheduled to take effect on November 12. The latest proposal joins other alternatives to a federal crackdown on hemp products.

While 2018 legalization set the stage for new economic opportunities, it also exposed regulatory gaps that lawmakers never fully addressed.

“The lesson of the 2018 Farm Bill is not that hemp failed,” Geoff Whaling, chairman of the National Hemp Association, said in a statement. “The lesson is that Congress legalized the crop without creating the full regulatory architecture needed for all downstream products.”

Some businesses saw those gaps as business opportunities to exploit legal ambiguity surrounding hemp-derived products, Whaling said. However, the same gaps left traditional industrial hemp sectors such as fiber, grain, food, feed, textiles and construction materials without the regulatory support that would have allowed them to grow.

“The next generation of hemp policy must separate these lanes,” he said. “Industrial hemp should be treated as agriculture and manufacturing. Cannabinoid products should be regulated based on science, safety, age access, labeling, potency, testing, and intended use. Synthetic and chemically converted intoxicants should not be allowed to masquerade as hemp.”

Tweet pointed out an opportunity for lawmakers to establish a durable regulatory framework, but he warned against pursuing another temporary legislative fix.

“We’ve learned too much over the last eight years to settle for another temporary fix—now is the time to build a framework the industry can responsibly grow into for decades to come,” she said.

Howard Lee, CEO of SōRSE Technology, shared his stance on what to expect going forward. He said a stable regulatory environment could result in significant economic benefits across agriculture, manufacturing and retail.

“Five years from now, if a legitimate market is created, farmers will have a new crop worth billions of dollars to them, the federal government will have billions of dollars worth of tax revenue, the adult use market will have a viable alternative to alcohol products to consume, and retailers and distributors will be able to replace the revenue lost from declining alcohol sales,” Lee said. “And children and teenagers will be protected by the age-gating rules (over 21) that won’t allow them to access these products.”