A trio of bipartisan U.S. senators is hoping to let state laws supersede the federal government’s forthcoming prohibition of intoxicating hemp products in a move to rescue the industry.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., filed the Hemp Safety Enforcement Act on April 16, alongside Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Joni Ernst, R-Iowa.
The legislation, Paul said, would allow states and tribal territories to “opt out” of the ban and instead regulate hemp-derived cannabinoid products through their own program structures, weakening the appropriations package that President Donald Trump signed in November, which redefines hemp to close a 2018 Farm Bill loophole beginning Nov. 12, 2026.
Hemp industry stakeholders, from farmers to vape shop owners, continue to lobby against the federal ban, arguing it’ll destroy a multibillion-dollar marketplace that fosters economic growth.
In Kentucky, startup companies expanded to “the tune of millions of dollars” following the 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized commercial hemp cultivation, Paul said during a tele-town hall meeting this week, when he unveiled his plans to file the Hemp Safety Enforcement Act.
The 2018 Farm Bill provided Kentucky’s struggling tobacco farmers with an opportunity to diversify and remain competitive with a new agricultural commodity, he said.
“It’s good for Kentucky farmers. It’s a cash crop, kind of like tobacco, not as big as tobacco, but kind of like tobacco as a cash crop,” Paul said. “And I think we ought to expand it. The Kentucky Legislature looked at this, and is there a potential for abusing it? Yeah, like anything else, you can take too much of things, or you can abuse it, just like alcohol. So, what the Kentucky state Legislature decided to do was to regulate it somewhat like alcohol.”
The senator said that the commonwealth’s laws limit hemp-derived THC drinks, for example, to those 21 and older, policing stores and punishing them for failure to follow regulations.
“So, they’ve gotten rid of the bad stuff, stuff that’s too potent. They’ve gotten rid of stuff that isn’t tested for purity. And they actually have rules on this,” Paul said. “But then the federal government came back last year and passed legislation to ban hemp completely. And I think this is a disaster. So, I’ve been working across the aisle with Amy Klobuchar."
Paul said he hopes that Klobuchar, the ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, can attach the Hemp Safety Enforcement Act to the 2026 Farm Bill. The House Agriculture Committee passed its version of the 2026 Farm Bill last month.
Paul said the Hemp Safety Enforcement Act would:
- create an “opt out,” so states and tribal nations can continue regulating hemp themselves, as long as they maintain a minimum age for purchase and keep the ban on “dangerous synthetic cannabinoids” that don’t naturally occur in the hemp plant;
- allow states and tribal territories to regulate age limits, serving size caps and testing requirements, allowing farmers to thrive while keeping products out of kids’ hands;
- preserve interstate commerce for legal products, remaining consistent with Trump’s executive order to expand medical cannabis and CBD research;
- provide public safety without trampling states’ rights or adult choice; and
- protect thousands of jobs, family farms, and safe access for veterans and seniors.
Paul said that Kentucky lawmakers regulated hemp in a “thoughtful manner,” and states should be able to distance themselves from those in Washington who “didn’t really ever study the issue” before making a final conclusion.
The senator also said that while he’s keeping his fingers crossed that the federal ban won’t be implemented in November, the uncertainty has likely already led to farmers taking hemp out of their crop rotation for the 2026 season.
“I lament that the government’s trying to destroy this industry now,” Paul said, adding that he’s doing everything he can to work across the aisle on the issue.
“We’ve seen prohibition fail before,” he said. “It fails miserably.”
