Optimism abounds at the Southern Hemp Expo in Raleigh, North Carolina, even as investor enthusiasm has waned.  As respected cannabis attorney Bob Hoban observed, the hemp industry has not run its course, it has barely begun.  He is right of course, in that the cannabinoid segment alone exploded out of the gates, and subsequently retired, in the face of insufficient demand. This, in part, was due to a regulatory vacuum that caused liability-conscious corporate players to press pause on CBD rollout. 

Ironically, the CBD isolate that lost so much of its value during the 2019 price collapse emerged as the most liquid market in cannabinoids in 2020, fueling the growth of the delta-8 THC (∆8) category that swept the nation by storm.  This created further regulatory and enforcement headaches for agencies still adapting to the new cannabis flower landscape.  Then operators began spraying hemp flower with ∆8, adding more confusion to a messy situation that is…