Wisconsin Urges Congress to Keep Hemp THC Products Legal
Our Home State Is Fighting for Hemp: Wisconsin Urges Congress to Keep Hemp THC Legal
Crafty’s hemp is grown in Wisconsin’s Driftless region, so this one hits close to home. With a federal hemp ban set for November 12, Wisconsin’s governor is asking Congress to protect an industry that supports hundreds of farms, thousands of jobs, and over $700 million in economic activity. Here’s what’s at stake.
Why This Story Matters to Us Personally
Most of the news we cover in this space happens somewhere else. This one happens in our own backyard.
Crafty is proud to make products from hemp grown in Wisconsin’s Driftless region, that beautiful, unglaciated corner of the state with rolling hills and rich soil that happens to be excellent for cultivation. So when Wisconsin’s leadership steps up to defend the hemp industry at the federal level, it isn’t an abstract policy story for us. It’s about the farmers, processors, and rural communities that make what we do possible.
Here’s what happened. Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers sent a letter to the state’s U.S. House and Senate delegation urging Congress to act to “prevent mass disruption of the hemp industry” before a planned federal recriminalization of hemp THC products takes effect later this year. In the letter, he described hemp as “an increasingly important tool for agricultural diversification, rural economic development, and value-added manufacturing,” creating new opportunities for farmers, processors, retailers, and consumers across the state.
His central ask is straightforward: he wants federal lawmakers to prevent the coming ban from taking effect, either by adding provisions to the next Farm Bill or by passing standalone legislation. And he framed the goal in terms most people across the spectrum can agree on, a “science-based federal framework that supports innovation, protects lawful businesses,” and lets farmers and producers compete in a fast-changing marketplace.
Setting aside the politics entirely, the economic argument is hard to ignore. When an industry supports hundreds of licensed producers and thousands of jobs, a sudden regulatory reversal doesn’t just affect companies like ours. It ripples through rural communities, farm families, and local economies that have come to depend on hemp as a diversification crop.
What the November 12 Deadline Actually Is
Let’s back up and explain the deadline everyone in the hemp world is watching, because it’s the thing driving all of this.
Hemp derivatives containing less than 0.3 percent Delta-9 THC by dry weight were federally legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill. That single piece of legislation created the entire modern hemp-derived cannabinoid economy, the gummies, the beverages, and the products that companies like Crafty make. But late last year, new federal legislation was signed containing provisions that will redefine hemp so that only products with no more than 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container remain legal after November 12.
That 0.4mg-per-container cap is dramatically stricter than the current standard. To put it in perspective, it’s a threshold so low that most of the hemp-derived THC products on the market today, including low-dose gummies and beverages, would not meet it. That’s why the entire industry, and now state leaders like Wisconsin’s governor, are sounding the alarm.
Wisconsin isn’t alone in this, and that’s where the broader state picture comes in. The looming federal change has prompted responses from officials, farmers, and businesses across the country, because hemp has become an economic factor in far more than one state:
Agricultural states with major hemp production: States like Wisconsin, Kentucky, Colorado, and others have built meaningful hemp economies since 2018, with licensed producers, processing facilities, and rural jobs tied to the crop. A federal reversal puts those investments at risk.
States that have built their own hemp frameworks: Many states have passed their own hemp regulations, on testing, packaging, age limits, and potency, creating structured markets that a federal ban would override or throw into confusion.
States watching the retail impact: Hemp-derived THC beverages have moved into mainstream retail in numerous states, and a sudden ban would affect not just specialty shops but grocery and convenience retail that has begun stocking these products.
On the federal side, bipartisan members of Congress have filed several bills aimed at delaying, preventing, or altering the scheduled ban. As of now, none of those proposals have gained traction with congressional leadership, which is part of why individual states are speaking up. For the current federal cannabis landscape more broadly, including the separate marijuana question: The DEA Marijuana Rescheduling Hearing: What to Know.
And for how federal attitudes toward hemp products have been evolving in other ways: Medicare Hemp Coverage Pilot: CMS Allows Physician-Furnished Hemp Products Up to $500 Per Year.
What This Means for You, and for the Farmers Behind Your Gummy
Here’s the advice column finish, because a story about our home state’s farmers deserves a grounded, human one.
First, a reassurance and a reality check. As of right now, hemp-derived Delta-9 products remain federally legal under the 2018 Farm Bill framework, and Crafty products continue to be made from Farm Bill-compliant hemp containing less than 0.3 percent Delta-9 THC by dry weight. Nothing about your ability to enjoy a Crafty THC gummy or THC beverage has changed today. What’s being debated is the future framework, and that debate is very much still in motion.
Second, the bigger point, and the one we care about most. Behind every 5mg gummy and every 10mg beverage is a supply chain that starts with a farmer. When you support transparently made, American-grown hemp products, you’re supporting the agricultural communities that grow the plant, the processors who refine it, and the rural economies that have come to rely on it as a diversification crop. That’s not marketing language. In Wisconsin, it’s 470 licensed producers and thousands of jobs.
The thing we’d gently encourage, if you care about this industry and the people in it: stay informed. Follow how the Farm Bill discussion develops. Pay attention to whether Congress acts before November 12. Policy debates like this one are often decided by whoever is paying attention, and the people most affected, the farmers and small businesses, don’t always have the loudest voice in the room.
In the meantime, we’ll keep doing what we do: making low-dose, third-party lab tested products from Wisconsin-grown hemp, with a clear dose and a transparent label, so you always know exactly what you’re getting. A Mimosa gummy, a White Russian gummy, a taste of the Driftless region in every bite.
For more on the science and shifting landscape of cannabinoids, a few of our recent reads:
→ A New Study Says Cannabis Helped With Restless Legs Syndrome. Here’s What It Actually Found.
→ The Next Great Sports Tradition Might Be Cannabis
And for the everyday question that never goes out of style: Can You Drive the Morning After Weed? New Study Results for Crafty Consumers.
Grown in Wisconsin’s Driftless region. Low-dose. Lab-tested.
Explore Crafty’s full lineup of hemp-derived THC gummies and drinks.
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