As a federal ban nears, alcohol industry power players are pushing to keep hemp THC beverages alive through a regulatory system they already know well.
Big Alcohol has spent years watching hemp THC beverages eat into its territory. Now that a federal crackdown is on the horizon, the industry is not asking Congress to leave the category alone. It is backing a version of regulation that would bring hemp THC drinks closer to its own system.
As reported by IgniteIt’s A.J. Herrington, the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America has launched a campaign calling for intoxicating hemp beverages to be regulated under a federal framework modeled on alcohol, rather than wiped out by the ban set to take effect on November 12, 2026.
On paper, that sounds like progress. And to be clear, support for fighting bans and replacing them with workable regulation matters. The hemp beverage industry needs allies in Washington, and right now it cannot afford to be picky about where that support comes from. But read a little closer and this also looks like a push to shape the category in ways that would give established alcohol players more influence over its future.
WSWA is not just opposing prohibition. It is pushing a full alcohol-style system with federal supplier and distributor licensing, taxes, testing requirements, trade practice rules and state-by-state control over where products can be sold. That does not mean the group is wrong to oppose a ban. It does suggest that the industry sees an opportunity to help write the rules for a fast-growing market before somebody else does.
That shift did not happen in a vacuum. Last year, federal legislation signed by President Donald Trump imposed a 0.4 milligram total THC per container limit on hemp-derived consumer products, a threshold that would effectively wipe out …
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Author: Javier Hasse / High Times
