For the Culture By The Culture
Congress inserted language into the shutdown bill that threatens to eliminate a 28 billion market relied on by veterans, older adults, people living with chronic pain, and those avoiding alcohol. The Hemp Beverage Alliance and NORML warned that this crisis is the result of political maneuvering rather than safety concerns. The next 365 days will decide the future of these products.
Congress buried a hemp ban inside a federal funding deal and triggered a crisis that threatens farmers, retailers, processors, and millions of consumers nationwide. A microscopic THC limit will erase products, crush rural economies, and push people back toward alcohol or the underground. The fight now moves to the Farm Bill, where pressure can force lawmakers to fix what they broke.
This week’s Reefer Report Card tracks mounting pressure across the cannabis world as the federal hemp derived THC crackdown rattles a multibillion dollar market, New York’s enforcement chaos deepens, Germany’s legalization plan stalls, and global reform hits resistance. Veterans and patients remain stuck in outdated systems. A tense week for cannabis policy and international legalization.
Canada seized more than two hundred million dollars in cannabis from Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, but the deeper story is sovereignty. Indigenous growers say their laws and economic rights were ignored while Canada enforced a system built without them. The raid exposes a legalization model that favors corporations and provinces while sidelining First Nations.
Congress slipped a hemp ban into a shutdown bill and triggered a nationwide fight that threatens farmers, small operators, veterans, and a twenty eight billion dollar market. Hemp Industry Strikes Back exposes the misinformation behind the vote and the yearlong battle now forming in courts, statehouses, and rural communities across the country.
Congress just buried hemp inside the 2025 spending bill, redefining the crop to outlaw hemp-derived THC products that built a $28 billion market. Farmers, brands, and workers face erasure without a vote or debate. Pot Culture Magazine exposes how lawmakers quietly re-criminalized hemp and why voices from Cheech & Chong to NORML say this fight is far from over.
