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The Hemp Ban Extension
What You Need to Know
Melissa breaks down the Continuing Resolution signed on September 2 that pushes the federal hemp ban from November 12 to December 11, 2026, what it means for the industry, and why we're continuing to fight.
Regulate Don't Ruin Podcast Episodes
Crescent 9 Built Something From Nothing, Now The Government Wants To Take It Away: Joe & Josh
Nate Fochtman sits down with Joe Gerrity, Co-Founder and CEO, and Joshua Katzenstein, Chief Revenue Officer of Crescent Canna and Crescent 9 THC Seltzer - one of the fastest-growing hemp beverage brands in the country, now sold in 20 states. What started as a scrappy CBD startup in New Orleans in 2019 has grown into a 40-person operation, and the number one brand in Nielsen data across multiple markets. Now, like every operator in this category, Joe and Josh are staring down a federal ban that nobody voted on, debated in committee, or can explain in plain terms. They pull no punches, walking through what it felt like to build something from nothing, nearly lose it in Louisiana to politically connected opposition, and win anyway when constituents picked up the phone. The conversation gets into what this ban is actually costing real people, why grassroots pressure worked once before and needs to work again, and why hemp beverages deserve a seat at the table that other hemp products have made harder to pull up.
Hemp THC Beverages & Saving Asheville, North Carolina
Three craft beer veterans make the case that hemp-derived THC beverages are the biggest shift hospitality has seen since the craft beer boom and that a federal ban could gut the industry by year's end. Nate Fochtman sits down with Chris Frosaker, founder of Hi-Wire Brewing and owner of Joyful Noise Listening Lounge, and Andrew Ross, co-owner of The Whale Craft Beer Collective - three operators who all came up in craft beer and are now building around hemp THC. The conversation covers why craft breweries are uniquely positioned to lead the hemp beverage category, how lab-tested, accurately dosed drinks make THC beverages the most transparent option on the shelf, and why regulation looks like a harm reduction win from a pharmacist's perspective. It also gets personal - both Nate and Andrew open up about how hemp beverages helped them step away from alcohol, get healthier, and stay socially connected.
AB Bottle Co owner Tony Piccini on why hemp THC beverages are the American dream, not a loophole.
Tony Piccini has run AB Bottle Co in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina for six years, and THC beverages now make up 35% of his sales - not a side hustle, but a core pillar of his business. This episode makes the broader case: hemp beverage is a multi-billion dollar industry employing hundreds of thousands of people, yet lawmakers' response has too often been to suppress and stall the category rather than regulate it, leaving operators like Tony in limbo instead of building on a real framework. Nate argues that's the opposite of how entrepreneurship should be treated - if you build something legal, create jobs, and grow a category from nothing into a real business, you deserve a path forward, not a countdown clock. Tony's story is one of hundreds Nate is hearing from operators across the country watching this fight play out in real time.
Dogwood Hops & Crops Owner Kate Hansen on Hemp Beverages, NC Regulation & Funding Schools
Kate Hansen owns Dogwood Hops & Crops and Trophy Room Bourbon Bar in Winston-Salem, and she's also PTO president at her kids' Title I elementary school - this conversation lives right at the intersection of those two roles. Hemp beverages now make up roughly 10% of Dogwood's total sales, and Kate walks through why customers reach for them: better sleep, no hangover, and a lower-proof option alongside a full bar menu. She makes the case that regulation, not prohibition, actually protects the category - age gating, testing, and labeling keep products off the street and out of kids' hands, something illegal markets never provide. Kate also lays out what's at stake with North Carolina's cannabis tax revenue potential, pointing to Colorado, which has directed over $3 billion in cannabis tax revenue toward public schools since legalization, with a meaningful share going straight to K-12 funding. With her own school's budget shrinking after losing tens of thousands in COVID funding, Kate argues this isn't just an industry issue - it's a school funding issue, a small business issue, and a jobs issue that touches farmers, labs, distributors, and neighbors who aren't even customers.
Two Competing NC Distributors Unite to Save Hemp Beverages
Two North Carolina distributors who compete head-to-head for shelf space every day set that rivalry aside to talk about hemp beverages. Ed Johnston, President of Tryon Distributing, and Rick Craig, Vice President of R.H. Barringer Distributing covers the same territory and the same retailers, but on this issue, they're on the same side. The conversation digs into what the category has actually done on the ground in North Carolina: Tryon has sold hemp product into over 1,000 unique retail partners year to date, some off-premise retailers report hemp beverages now driving a quarter to a third of total revenue, and craft breweries are filling tanks that beer no longer fills - numbers that never make it into the federal ban headlines. Ed and Rick break down why hemp beverage is a natural extension of the regulated adult beverage business rather than a threat to it, and walk through the RegulateDontRuinNC.com campaign and the case for smart regulation over an outright ban. Nate also shares a testimonial from a veteran using hemp beverages in place of VA-prescribed pain pills. It's one of the most direct, high-stakes conversations on the show to date - a must-listen for anyone in beer, wine, spirits, or hemp beverage who's stayed quiet on this fight.