[PRESS RELEASE] – LOS ANGELES, Oct. 20, 2026 – As Congress approaches a Dec. 11 deadline that could reshape the nation’s hemp and cannabis markets, a new 73-page report argues that Washington’s debate overlooks a fundamental problem: Constituencies fighting over hemp have different interests, and treating them as one risks lasting regulatory and economic consequences.
Released by SIVA Capital, the report, “The Farm Bill Legalized a Crop. Nobody Regulated the Product,” separates the interests of farmers, CBD producers, patients, consumers, state-licensed cannabis operators, state regulators and intoxicating hemp businesses, examining what each stands to gain or lose under competing legislative proposals.
“Congress is being asked to preserve a market without a clear accounting of what that market is, who actually depends on it or what preserving it would cost the rest of the industry,” said Avis Bulbulyan, managing partner of SIVA Capital and former member of California’s Cannabis Advisory Committee.
At issue is a broader policy concern: Codifying a parallel intoxicating THC market could create a second regulatory and tax structure, undermine state-licensed cannabis systems and complicate eventual federal cannabis reform.
Rather than another delay or an indiscriminate ban, the report proposes a targeted alternative: Allow the December loophole closure to proceed, repair restrictions on legitimate nonintoxicating CBD products and establish a narrowly defined, state-controlled pathway for THC beverages using existing adult beverage infrastructure.
The report scrutinizes economic claims influencing the debate, including a widely cited $28 billion hemp-market estimate based on modeled demand rather than verified sales, and questions whether employment, tax revenue and business closure projections accurately reflect the industries affected.
“This isn’t about choosing between hemp and cannabis,” Bulbulyan said. “It’s about whether Congress fixes an unintended consequence of the farm bill or builds an entirely new regulatory system around it. Those are very different decisions, with consequences that extend well beyond December.”
Drawing on two decades of operating, regulatory and advisory experience, Bulbulyan examines 11 major objections and challenges policymakers to consider consequences across the entire market rather than one constituency.
Read the full report: https://sivacap.com/the-farm-bill-legalized-a-crop-nobody-regulated-the-product/
