Craft Brewers Are About to Get Hit Hard by a New Law in the Shutdown Bill

The government is back open, but it may come at the cost of putting more than one industry on the brink of collapse. Hemp products are being banned after one provision in the shutdown deal essentially rewrote the 2018 Farm Bill that made them legal. 

Now, hemp-derived THC products, including drinks and edibles, will become illegal again. Companies who have been selling related products will be prohibited from doing so, and they won’t be able to use the federal banking system.

It will take a toll on the breweries that entered into the THC space as the demand for craft beer fell because of wellness trends and a decline in adults drinking alcohol.

How Craft Brewers Embraced THC

The list of breweries that now produce THC beverages is long and spans the country. To name a few: California’s Lagunitas, Indeed in Minnesota, Ohio’s Rhinegeist, Massachusetts’s Harpoon, and Hopewell in Chicago.

According to the Sun-Times, Hopewell Brewing’s THC seltzers and drinks make up 30 percent of its business. 

“We would like to keep morale up, but it will mean that we will need to let people go,” said Samantha Lee, co-founder of Hopewell, “and reduce our business in some fashion that will be painful.”

Under the new legislation, breweries selling THC products won’t be able to deposit money, pay off investments, or pay mortgages. Companies that may have invested millions to grow their businesses will now lose that money, according to Illinois Representative LaShawn Ford.

Ed Marszewski of Marz Brewing told Axios he was frustrated by the lack of conversation that took place around the new legislation. 

“It was shitty to implement a ban without a transparent debate and discussion to address all arguments pro and con about the use of hemp-derived THC,” he said.

“Slipping the ban into this legislation demonstrates why so many people in our country don’t trust our politicians.”

But hope isn’t completely lost. Because the ban doesn’t go into effect for another year, there’s a chance Congress will determine a solution for regulation. 

“This isn’t a ban—it’s a one-year shot clock to finally get the rules we’ve always wanted,” THC beverage company CANN co-founder Jake Bullock told Axios.