Hemp Beverage Expo opens amid industry uncertainty🥤

HEMP
Hemp Beverage Expo opens amid industry uncertainty🥤

Driving the news: The hemp industry’s largest B2B trade show for beverages will hold its annual event this week amid widespread uncertainty in the market due to a looming federal deadline banning most consumer products in the space.

Still, some 1,200 visitors are expected to attend the Hemp Beverage Expo June 17-18 at the Palmer Events Center in Austin, Texas, where an ongoing legal battle has waged for years over hemp-derived THC product sales.

Attendees include a cross-section of the industry, from brand operators and retailers to buyers and ancillary businesses, like insurance providers and point-of-sale (POS) software and equipment makers.

What they’re saying: “There seems to be a lot of optimism about the category and the event,” Chris Lackner, president and CEO of the Hemp Beverage Alliance, told Cultivated.

The Colorado-based trade group produces the show with longtime B2B show runners Jage Media. The Washington state-based firm launched MJ Unpacked in 2021, according to its website. 

Go deeper: The show floor at the event center is nearly booked to capacity, with 149 of 150 exhibitor booths sold, according to Lackner. In a rare B2B trade show allowance, attendees can sample products on-site. 

Notable attendees include DoorDash and Edibles.com, two giants that made a splash entering the market in the last few years, expanding retail access nationwide and mainstream acceptance.

The conference, which includes seminars, panel sessions and executive networking, is expected to generate plenty of business insights only a few months before the market could be upended.

On Nov. 13 a sweeping national policy change is set to go into effect, restricting hemp-derived THC potency to no more than 0.4 milligrams per container, which would prohibit most products today.

And more: Most hemp companies interviewed by Cultivated over the last month, including at our Midwest Forum in Chicago, are planning some diversification strategy to either pivot into new markets or change production processes to meet new standards. 

“The big takeaway is you don't have a trade show for an industry that's going away,” Lackner said.

-CC

“I am excited to announce a compromise proposal for a safe, legal, and well-regulated cannabis marketplace here in Virginia,” Gov. Abigail Spanberger said.

“We will do it in a way that protects consumers, tamps down on the illicit market with clear enforcement and regulatory authority, and keep our kids safe once the marketplace is open.”

Virginia finally has a retail cannabis start date: July 1, 2027 🗳️

Gov. Abigail Spanberger and legislative leaders announced a compromise Tuesday, after Spanberger vetoed earlier retail legislation in May when lawmakers rejected her proposed changes. The deal, folded into the state budget due by June 30, caps retail licenses at 350, starts the state cannabis tax at 6% (rising to 8% in 2029), and directs 75% of first-year license fees into a Cannabis Equity Business Loan Fund to help small operators compete.

Virginia has allowed legal possession since 2021, but a retail market has been stuck in limbo ever since. The low opening tax rate is intentional: "If our goal is to move consumers away from the illicit market, then the legal market has to be able to compete," said state Sen. Lashrecse Aird.

A GOP congresswoman wants to carve hemp THC drinks out of the federal ban 💰

Just in time for the Hemp Beverage Expo, Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-TX) is circulating draft legislation that would keep hemp THC beverages federally legal by allowing adults 21+ to purchase drinks with up to 5mg of THC per serving, regulated by the Treasury Department's Tax and Trade Bureau with a 10-cent-per-milligram federal tax. The bill hasn't been formally introduced and could change.

A Harvard neuroscientist says rescheduling is too risky ⚖️

Bertha K. Madras, a Harvard Medical School professor, former White House drug policy official, and longtime cannabis opponent, filed a declaration in the D.C. Circuit warning that rescheduling poses "unacceptably high" public health risks, particularly for adolescents and unborn children. The filing came as the court weighs an emergency motion to stay the rescheduling order — brought by MMJ International Holdings and other petitioners who argue the order bypasses FDA review and notice-and-comment rulemaking.

A federal judge temporarily blocks Ohio's hemp ban for 10 companies ⚖️

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey J. Helmick granted a two-week restraining order on June 15 blocking Ohio from enforcing Senate Bill 56 against 10 hemp beverage companies, the latest in a string of court setbacks for the state's intoxicating hemp ban. The plaintiffs argue the law unconstitutionally restricts federally compliant products to licensed cannabis dispensaries, eight months before a federal ban even takes effect.

Michigan Cannabis Regulatory Agency Executive Director Brian Hanna was elected president of the Cannabis Regulators Association for the 2026-2027 term, making him the first U.S. military veteran to lead the organization.

Teen cannabis use in Colorado keeps falling 📊

A new state survey found 9.7% of Colorado high school students used cannabis in the past 30 days, down from 12.8% in 2021 and a 56% drop since 2011 — the year before legalization. Nationally, that figure sits at 17%. The share of teens who say cannabis would be easy to get has also fallen to 33.5%, down from 54.9% in 2013.

New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby appeared to be celebrating with New York’s finest legal cannabis on his post-championship appearance on Good Morning America. 

There’s a Mountain in Morocco Where Everyone Grows Hash. The Locals Call It the Temple of the Plant. The Government Called It Illegal. | High Times