Best of the Week: November 7 – November 13, 2025

Let’s dive into the top stories shaping the conversation this week. Summaries of each article are listed below.

1. US Government Shutdown Ends with Redefinition of Hemp

Making news across the country and industry, the US Senate voted and passed the FY26 Agriculture Appropriations Bill which included a provision that redefined hemp as banning any product that contained more than 0.4 mg total tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

Industry stakeholders across the country responded. “Federally recriminalizing the hemp-derived marketplace will neither reduce consumers’ demand for these products nor increase consumers’ safety,” NORML’s Deputy Director Paul Armentano said.

“Businesses are deeply disappointed by the decisions of Congress and their openness to receiving false information so easily,” shared Art Massolo, US Hemp Roundtable President and Cycling Frog VP of Business Development. “The next year will be critical in determining the future of hemp.”

2. Study Shows Low-THC Hemp Beverages Decrease Alcohol Consumption As Senate Hemp Legislation Looms

MoreBetter Ltd, an organization that works with real-world data and public health research, recently conducted a national study that discovered that “low-dose hemp-derived infused beverages are linked to improved well-being, reduced alcohol use, and minimal impairment,” reported a November 11 press release. The study organizers had urged legislators to view the data in their before voting.

In the study, researchers analyzed data from 2,580 adult participants over the course of 22 days, where they consumed one of 20 different hemp beverages that contained one to 10 mg tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) per serving. “The data show that adults are using hemp beverages responsibly to relax, reduce alcohol consumption, and feel better without high levels of intoxication,” said Kevin Provost, CEO of MoreBetter Ltd. “Banning these products now would erase years of harm-reduction progress and contradict the Real World Evidence that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Congress claim to rely on.”

3. Notice of Publication for Public Comment Announced by White Earth Nation

In early November, Laurie York, Executive Director of White Earth Reservation, issued a Notice of Publication for Public Comment. The White Earth Reservation Business Committee adopted on October 31, 2025, a new resolution and directed York to make the revisions to the resolution public.

Some of the revisions included in the resolution are:

• Cannabis means any adult-use, recreational, or medicinal cannabis concentrate, cannabis flower, cannabis plant, cannabis product, edible cannabis product, and artificially derived cannabinoid.
• This Code replaces and repeals the Adult-Use Cannabis Code (enacted August 2023) and Medicinal Cannabis Code (first enacted January 5, 2021, last amended August 2023).
• Synthetic Cannabis Prohibited. The use, possession, manufacture, sale, transfer, and retail sale of synthetic cannabis is prohibited.

Public commentary will be processed via email.

4. North Star Cannabis Consulting Launches Minnesota’s First Craft Cannabis Business Accelerator

North Star Cannabis Consulting announced that 22 entrepreneurs have been selected to join Minnesota’s first cannabis business accelerator. This initiative will join 15 founding members with seven newly selected participants. According to the press release, this new program offers the opportunity for “collaborative support infrastructure for craft cannabis entrepreneurs as Minnesota's adult-use market reaches a critical growth phase.”

The main focus of the accelerator is to help mold the state’s cannabis “vision” through “community-centered, locally-owned businesses rather than corporate, multi-state operators (MSOs) entering Minnesota."

5. Gallup Poll Results: Support for Cannabis Legalization is High, but not Highest

Gallup released results from its annual Crime poll regarding adult Americans’ views on drugs in the US, including cannabis . Poll questions covered perceptions on progress in the handling the problem of illegal drugs and support for legalization of cannabis. Political parties of the respondents were also included.

Within the larger Crime poll was a question on cannabis: Do you think the use of marijuana should be legal, or not? More than half (64%) of the respondents supported legalization of cannabis, the 2025 poll revealed, also noting that this is down from the 68% to 70% levels seen from 2020 and 2024. Support in 2017 and 2019 had been at 64%. Republican support for legalization of cannabis had been climbing in the 2010s (29% in 2010 to 51% in 2019), but showed a drop from 53% in 2024 to 40% in 2025. Democratic and Independent percentages for cannabis legalization were 85% and 66% for 2025, respectively.