Last Week’s Hemp Commentary 

The Complex Politics of Cannabis

Hemp politics in Oregon are far from boring.  Oregon lawmakers saw an emerging hemp industry that came with a compelling backstory and was good for rural communities.  After legalizing MJ, embracing hemp was a breeze. 

This is not entirely the case though.  We recall Oregon State University’s hesitation to pursue cannabinoid hemp research in 2019, prior to the release of USDA hemp regulations when government agencies issued memos regularly, discussing hemp’s normalization within their spheres of influence. 

The DEA noted that seeds could be imported without their blessing.  Banking agencies said hemp was good to go.  Sort of.  TSA said, ‘bring it’, because cannabis isn’t squarely in their wheelhouse anyway, and travelers can travel with hemp extracts. 

This was the honeymoon period of hemp’s regulatory life, when…