GOP Operative Roger Stone Blasts ‘Cheap Cop-Out’ Hemp Ban That Trump Signed Into Law

Federal hemp THC ban isn’t a policy so much as a blunt instrument—swung in the dark and landing on the wrong skulls. That’s the vibe on the ground after Congress slipped a prohibition on hemp products containing THC into a must-pass spending bill, and the president signed it. Overnight, a sprawling, messy, innovative market—hemp-derived cannabinoids, delta-8, CBD tinctures at gas stations and boutique wellness shops—was told to clean out its locker. The shorthand reads like reform. The reality feels like a back-alley raid. Political theater meets cannabis policy reform, and the Michigan cannabis market isn’t the only one bracing; this is a national switch-flip with enormous cannabis industry impact and a not-so-subtle message about who gets to build the future of legal cannabis revenue and who gets told to wait in the parking lot.

Roger Stone—never shy about stepping into the ring—called the move a cheap cop-out. He blasted the appropriations sneak-attack, arguing that if lawmakers wanted to fix a real problem in the hemp boom, they should do it in the sunlight with hearings, expert testimony, and a scalpel. “This is not regulation. It is prohibition by the back door,” he warned, while still conceding the obvious: delta-8 and other engineered isomers needed rules, testing, and basic consumer protections. That’s nuance you rarely get in an election year. Stone’s own post tees up what a grown-up conversation could look like—clear potency bands, licensing, safe manufacturing, research pathways—rather than a one-size-fits-all hammer. If you want his unfiltered read, he laid it out here: Congress punts on hemp policy. It’s the kind of argument you make when you’ve seen the supply chain from seed to shelf and understand how quickly a pen stroke can erase rural jobs, patient routines, and a decade of agricultural bets.

Here’s what the new definition and timetable really do, stripped of the sound bites and fed into a grinder. The 2018 Farm Bill measured hemp by delta-9 THC on a dry-weight basis. The update converts that to total THC—folding in delta-8 and other isomers—and lets federal health officials decide what else “walks and talks” like THC. The result is a near-zero tolerance framework for consumable hemp products, with a cap so low you’d need a jeweler’s loupe to find legal compliance. The bill gives agencies marching orders and gives the industry a year to feel the walls closing in. If you’re trying to map risk in the hemp-derived marketplace, the rule-of-thumb now reads: assume the party’s over unless Congress reverses itself or rewrites the sheet music.

• Total THC replaces delta-9-only math, sweeping in isomers like delta-8 and any cannabinoid with similar effects as determined by federal health officials.
• Legal hemp products face a container cap around 0.4 milligrams total THC (and THC-like compounds), effectively neutering most consumable products.
• “Intermediate” hemp-derived cannabinoids sold as finished goods get axed, slamming popular retail categories built on conversions and isolates.
• Within 90 days, FDA and partner agencies must publish lists of cannabinoids naturally produced by Cannabis sativa L., naturally occurring tetrahydrocannabinols, and other compounds with THC-like effects—fast-tracking enforcement targets.
• Implementation window: roughly one year—long enough for lobbyists to work the room, not long enough for small operators to pivot without scars.

States, predictably, aren’t buying a federal bulldozer. In Kentucky, the governor’s message was blunt: hemp is an important industry, and regulation should happen locally, not by distant edict. For a grounded read on that stance, see Kentucky Governor Says Hemp Is An ‘Important Industry’ That Should Be Regulated At The State Level, Not Federally Banned. Illinois—long a lab for midwestern cannabis policy—signaled it will reopen its own hemp debate as federal bans loom, a move that hints at a patchwork resistance. Details here: Illinois Will Revisit Hemp Regulation Debate Amid New Federal Ban On THC Products, Governor Says. The veterans community, meanwhile, is caught in the crossfire—again. The same spending push that thinned out hemp access also skipped a chance to make VA medical cannabis conversations easier, a choice critics called needless and cruel. If you want the human cost, start here: GOP Leaders’ Move To Block Medical Marijuana Access For Veterans Is ‘Just Plain Cruel,’ Senator Says. Stack on top of that a newly sharpened appetite for prosecuting marijuana cases on federal land, and you can feel the temperature rising: US Attorney Will Begin ‘Rigorously’ Prosecuting People For Marijuana On Federal Land After Trump DOJ Rescinds Biden-Era Guidance. Call it a pattern: federal heat where clarity is thinnest.

There’s a smarter route than politics-by-ambush. Build a regulated market for consumable hemp products that distinguishes naturally occurring cannabinoids from lab-built isomers; set potency standards based on science; require clean manufacturing; keep the door open for legitimate wellness uses; and give farmers a rulebook they can actually read. Invite USDA, FDA, and DEA to do their jobs in public—with comment periods, data, and deadlines—so small businesses don’t get blindsided. Because when policy gets written in the shadows, the people who pay aren’t the ones cutting the checks. They’re the growers staring at unsellable biomass, the shop owner eating inventory, the patient who just lost a routine that made mornings liveable. If this federal hemp THC ban is the opening salvo, then the next act needs to be honest, transparent, and fast. And if you’re looking to navigate what’s legal now and what still delivers the plant’s best without the high, you’ll find it in our curated selection—explore the menu here: https://thcaorder.com/shop/.