I am angry.
I am sad.
And I am heartbroken that we have turned back the clock on hemp so drastically that even hemp chicken feed is now considered illegal.
Does that make you feel safer?
Do the plain white bags of animal feed — labeled like any other farm product — somehow appeal to children?
Does banning them make our communities safer?
No. The only thing this protects is the pockets of large cannabis operators.
If this were truly about safety, it would have been built on fair, science-backed regulations — not what amounts to an essential ban on an entire industry.
Under this new definition, even hemp seeds that test at 0.0% THC could be considered non-compliant, because legality is now tied to the potential THC of the plant they might grow into.
I am saddened for businesses like
AliceCBD,
Pinnacle Hemp,
The Canna Corner,
2 Chicks and a Headshop, and
Grateful Headz,
and countless others across Missouri and beyond — legitimate hemp operators who did everything right.
They followed the 2018 Farm Bill. They self-regulated.
They made sure their products were lab-tested with Certificates of Analysis (COAs) that matched the federal definition of hemp.
They sold only to adults 21 and older.
They took compliance seriously.
And now?
We’ve taken away their livelihoods.
- Businesses face closure.
- Farmers are questioning whether to plant their next crop.
- Some already backed out of leases — their dreams shuttered before opening day.
That means fewer jobs, less tax revenue, and fewer safe options for patients.
Large parts of Missouri are miles away from any state-licensed dispensary. For those people, hemp products weren’t about getting high — they were about getting relief. Now, they will no longer have access to their medicine.
Sure, adult travelers can still access recreational cannabis. But patients under 21 — and the parents caring for them — are left behind. Getting a medical card can take weeks.
For families with special-needs children who rely on CBD for seizures or other conditions, that delay is devastating. There isn’t always an acceptable pharmaceutical replacement. These are families who already tried every drug their doctor could offer — and failed — until CBD gave them a chance at stability.
Now that chance is being stripped away.
We have turned back the clock.
We’ve made safe, regulated, non-intoxicating hemp products illegal — in the name of “safety.”
But it’s not safety. It’s politics.
And by the time this all takes effect, it’s Big Pharma and the alcohol industry who will benefit most — while small farmers, small businesses, and families are left behind.
The people paying the price aren’t the ones causing the problem. They’re the ones who played by the rules.
We Have Not Given Up
We are not stopping the fight. We have 365 days to fix this, and we intend to do exactly that. We will find a way to repair this mess — because we have to.
All those businesses I mentioned — they support families. They put food on the table. They give back to their communities. I personally know multiple owners who have quietly paid off school lunch debts across Missouri. They’ve gone as far as researching which schools get fewer donations and making sure every school — even high schools that can’t share funds between districts — got help.
Do these sound like the kind of business owners we want to run out of business?
Absolutely not.
This has to change.
And one more thing:
Without hemp, none of you would even know me.
I used hemp first. The local hemp store practically held my hand to help me get my medical card. Many of you may think of me now as part of the cannabis industry — but the truth is, for the last two years, hemp has kept me in business.
That’s the story for so many of us. Hemp built bridges, created jobs, and changed lives — and we’re not about to let it be erased.
Join Us in the Fight to Protect Hemp
📞 Contact your lawmakers — tell them to remove the hemp ban and restore the definition that worked.
💬 Join our WhatsApp group:
Missourians for a Single Market
✉️ Join our email list:
Sign up here
📝 Have you been affected by the hemp ban?
Please fill out this short form from the
Missouri Hemp Trade Association and tell your story.
You can also fill out this
Google form to share how you’ve been impacted — even if it’s just a small way.
🌿 Learn more and stay connected:
www.mosinglemarket.com
📧 Contact me directly:
deb@cannaanswers.com | 417-439-0947
📲 Follow Canna Answers on social media:
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Together, we can still fix this before the damage becomes permanent.
🌿 Written by Deb Nash, Canna Answers LLC