by State Rep. Jay Reedy
When a Tennessee adult buys a hemp seltzer at the store today, they show their ID, choose a can from a brand registered with the state Department of Revenue and pay a price that includes a tax of $4.40 per gallon. If Congress does nothing, that same can becomes a federally controlled substance on Dec. 11.
Congress included the hemp ban in last November’s spending bill, the legislation that ended the government shutdown. Now, a provision passed in Washington threatens to undo a regulatory system Tennessee lawmakers debated and approved here at home.
Gov. Bill Lee signed Tennessee’s latest hemp law in May 2025. On Jan. 1, oversight moved to the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission, which now issues separate licenses for suppliers, wholesalers and retailers. The law also restricts packaging that uses cartoon characters and other imagery designed to appeal to children. The U.S. Hemp Roundtable estimates the federal ban would eliminate more than 95 percent of hemp-derived products from the market. Tennessee would be left with a licensing system and few legal products for businesses to sell.
I sponsored the legislation that opened Tennessee to industrial hemp and grew the crop on my Houston County farm to learn firsthand how the industry works.
Congress has already voted to ban synthetic cannabinoids starting Nov. 12. However, naturally derived hemp products sold through licensed Tennessee businesses should be governed by a federal framework that requires accredited lab testing, accurate labels, potency limits and a minimum purchase age of 21. States should also retain the ability to adopt stronger protections for their residents if they so choose.
Tennessee’s Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty, along with Tennessee’s nine House members, have until Dec. 11 to help put those protections in place. Tennesseans expect their elected officials to respect the laws their state has passed and to think carefully before allowing a provision in a federal spending bill to override state’s rights and policy.
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State Rep. Jay Reedy (R-Erin) represents the 74th District in the Tennessee House including Benton, Houston, Humphreys, Stewart and part of Henry Counties.
