President Donald Trump signed legislation earlier this month ending the government shutdown. As part of that bill, there’s a provision that would ban intoxicating products derived from hemp.
The ban would take effect toward the end of 2026. Marijuana is not legal in Wisconsin, but due to the 2018 Farm Bill, consumers have access to hemp-derived products such as CBD and THC-infused food and drinks.
Those products have become more popular, but they aren’t strictly regulated in Wisconsin.
State lawmakers have also considered regulating hemp similarly to how alcohol is regulated. That legislation was supported by the Tavern League, a lobbying group for businesses that sell alcohol.
One local business that sells hemp products is Kelly’s Greens in Wauwatosa. She testified against State Assembly Bill 606. She has been working alongside other hemp businesses to advocate for hemp regulation guided by industry experts.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Maria Peralta-Arellano: What will the federal ban mean for not only you and your business, but also your employees and the community that you're serving?
Erin Kelly: So if the federal ban were to stand, it would essentially outlaw all of the products that we currently sell in our neighborhood shop that help people sleep, that help people relieve pain and offer an alternative to alcohol. To sell hemp-based products after the ban would be considered a crime.
Where do you agree and where do you differ with these bills? What were some changes that you would make?
I certainly agree with common sense regulation serving euphoric products to people 21 and up, third-party testing products, and these are things that are already happening in our shop right now. I support all of that. I support reasonable taxation.
I believe that instead of encouraging people from Wisconsin to go outside of the state, we should be selling these products here and not like Illinois where the cannabis products are so entirely expensive. Reasonable taxation that would allow for things like schools and roads improving in Wisconsin would benefit everybody.
What's the road for you guys here? what are you just generally thinking for the year ahead?
So what's next for us here in the state of Wisconsin is that we need a viable hemp plan that's gonna protect businesses like us and consumers that wanna continue buying these products as well as protecting the farmers that grow this product right here. We are working with our representatives to have a viable hemp plan that essentially would allow us to continue to do business after the federal ban would go into place.
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