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Every Halloween has its monsters, but none are more frightening than the ones haunting medical cannabis policy. How long will we allow ourselves to be tricked when there’s not a treat in sight?

Over the past decade, the promise that adult-use legalization would take care of patients has turned out to be a cruel illusion. Instead of expanding access and compassion, the focus has shifted to profit, intoxicating products, and short-term market gains. Patients — the very people who built this movement — are being left behind in a fog of false promises, deregulation fights, and stalled federal reforms.

Tricked with No Treats

The idea that adult-use legalization would automatically benefit patients was the first and greatest trick. In most states, adult-use markets have swallowed medical programs, leaving patients with fewer product options and no civil protections. Medical formulations — suppositories, tinctures, sublinguals, and balanced cannabinoid ratios — are disappearing as providers chase the recreational dollar. Meanwhile, the hemp lobby hides behind patients to fight regulation while opposing the very safety measures that would protect them.

At the federal level, solutions that would create a consistent medical framework are being quietly sabotaged to preserve the speculative value of state cannabis licenses. Policymakers and investors alike are undermining long-term patient protections for short-term valuations. The result is a market that rewards hype over healing — and patients who are once again forced to fight for what they built.

Headless Hemp Reform

The current hemp debate is the perfect monster for Halloween: headless, chaotic, and dangerous. While the hemp lobby claims to stand for farmers and patients, their real concern is protecting intoxicating hemp beverages and synthetic cannabinoids. Senator Rand Paul’s recent comments are less about defending American agriculture and more about defending an unregulated intoxicant market.

The “Miller Amendment” — an attempt to redefine hemp and close the intoxicating loophole — was slipped into the 118th Congress’s Farm Bill draft before being punted to the 119th through a continuing resolution. Now revived in the Agriculture Appropriations bill, the amendment survived the House version but not the Senate’s, leaving its fate to be decided in Conference Committee. The political theater around it has little to do with patient access and everything to do with commercial interests.

Even worse, many hemp advocates are pushing to hand the FDA full control over cannabinoids — a move that could crush delay safe patient access indefinitely. A better path would be for Congress to direct the FDA to require transparent labeling for hemp-derived products, including clear information about cannabinoid sources, whether a product has been evaluated for safety, and a warning if it hasn’t been tested for contaminants. Patients deserve honesty, not another trick wrapped in a glossy package.

Congress could also mitigate the unintended fallout of the Miller Amendment by clarifying rules for the processing of compliant hemp into CBD. During concentration, THC levels naturally rise above the 0.3% threshold before being diluted again in the final product — a normal part of the process that currently puts legitimate producers at risk. Utah has already created a model regulation for “intermediate hemp extract,” providing a path forward that balances safety with practicality. It’s time for the DEA and Congress to catch up.

The Ghost of Federal Reform

Meanwhile, in Washington, the ghost of federal cannabis reform continues to haunt the halls of Congress. Despite endless promises and press releases, lawmakers remain unwilling to confront the issues head-on. Congress has passed minor amendments to protect state medical programs, but with the backing of cannabis businesses, has avoided comprehensive reform. Rescheduling cannabis to Schedule III, if it happens, will do little more than shuffle paperwork while leaving patients vulnerable and providers uncertain. The much-hyped cannabis banking bill remains in purgatory, year after year, where it will stay.

The Truth About Federal Cannabis Policy Is Scary Enough

While lawmakers stall, a darker narrative is taking shape. On September 18, the House Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Accountability held a hearing titled “Invasion of the Homeland: How China is Using Illegal Marijuana to Build a Criminal Network Across America.” Chairman Josh Brecheen (R-OK) declared Chinese-linked cannabis farms a “national security threat” and called for a federal RICO task force. One of the hearing’s star witnesses, Paul Larkin of The Heritage Foundation, is a key contributor to Project 2025 — the same agenda blueprint that outlines an aggressive crackdown on state-legal cannabis under the guise of “law and order.”

The plan reads like a horror script: “Rigorously prosecute interstate drug activity, including simple possession.” “Aggressively deploy the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).” While President Trump may claim he hasn’t read Project 2025, his administration is already treating it as a checklist. If enacted, this agenda could reanimate federal crackdowns against patients, providers, and state programs — all while claiming to defend “national security.”

Our Dead Deserve Better

Medical cannabis reform in the United States was built on compassion. The patients who came before us risked their freedom and health to create the framework we have today. They did not fight and die for a marketplace obsessed with profit or a movement hijacked by intoxicating loopholes. They fought for medicine, dignity, and truth.

This Halloween, as politicians play dress-up and corporations count their candy, it’s time for patients — and ethical businesses who remember why this movement began — to reclaim the debate.