The lack of expertise in hemp issues among legislators and key staff opens a unique window for hemp stakeholders.  This has been especially true for MJ, where experience is especially thin and the issues are complex. 

We describe cannabis policy as iterative because it’s a trial and error approach.  There are plenty of successes in states.  Many of these are borne on the heels of failure. 

Oregon is a good illustration of hemp policy producing outcomes that were entirely unexpected.  The state was inundated with illicit MJ grows operating under the guise of hemp.  This was amplified by the presence of organized crime that planted thousands of greenhouse structures with impunity, trafficked people, and stole scarce water resources in drought years. 

Oregon reacted swiftly with