WHO HAS SAID THAT HE WOULD SIGN IT. THE SPENDING BILL TO END THE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN INCLUDES AN UNUSUAL ADD ON A BAN ON HEMP BASED THC PRODUCTS. 12 NEWS HAS DONE NUMEROUS STORIES ABOUT THE BOOMING POPULARITY OF THOSE PRODUCTS LEGALIZED IN 2018, INCLUDING SOME THC DRINKS. BUT AS 12 NEWS NICK BOHR REPORTS, THIS ADDITION TO THE SHUTDOWN BILL WOULD SUDDENLY MAKE THEM ALL ILLEGAL. LEGALIZED IN A 2018 FEDERAL FARM BILL, HEMP BASED THC DRINKS AND GUMMIES, KNOWN ALSO AS DELTA EIGHT AND NINE, EXPLODED IN POPULARITY. NOW SOLD NEARLY EVERYWHERE IN WISCONSIN. BUT THAT COULD SOON DRASTICALLY CHANGE TO JUST SHUTTER IT IN A YEAR WOULD BE DEVASTATING. MATT SWANSON TALKED WITH 12 NEWS IN FEBRUARY ABOUT HIS BUSINESS, DRINKING BUDS, WHEN SALES OF THEIR CANNED THC COCKTAILS WERE CLOSING IN ON A MILLION CANS A YEAR. BUT LANGUAGE INSERTED THIS WEEK INTO THE BILL ENDING THE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN WOULD OUTLAW THE HEMP BASED PRODUCTS LIKE HIS NATIONWIDE. THIS FEELS ABOUT AS UN-AMERICAN AS IT GETS. I MEAN, THE DAY AFTER VETERAN’S DAY, AS A US VETERAN, I FEEL LIKE THE GOVERNMENT, OUR GOVERNMENT IS STABBING ME AND THE OTHER VETERANS AND OTHER AMERICANS IN THE INDUSTRY RIGHT IN THE BACK ON THIS. IT WOULDN’T JUST BE THE SUPPLIER. AND OF COURSE, THAT WOULD BE IMPACTED. THE INDUSTRY HAS ADVANCED TO THE POINT WHERE THEIR ENTIRE STOREFRONT BUSINESSES LIKE KELLY’S GREENS HERE IN WAUWATOSA, THAT WOULD BE SEVERELY IMPACTED. OUR NUMBER ONE SELLER IS OUR SLEEP GUMMY. OWNER ERIN KELLY SAYS THE BAN WILL KILL HER BUSINESS AND LEAVE HER SEVEN WORKERS UNEMPLOYED. I’M NOT GOING TO SIT BACK AND WATCH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PULL THE RUG OUT FROM AN INDUSTRY THAT THEY HAVE ALLOWED TO BE CREATED FOR THE LAST SEVEN YEARS. IT WILL BE DEVASTATING. SENATOR MITCH MCCONNELL ADDED THE BAN TO THE SHUTDOWN BILL, SAYING IT CLOSES A LOOPHOLE THAT ALLOWED THE PRODUCTION OF INTOXICATING HEMP. KELLY SAYS HIS BAN CLAIMS TO FIX A PROBLEM THAT DOESN’T EXIST. HOW DO YOU PUT THE TOOTHPASTE BACK IN THE TUBE? PEOPLE IN WISCONSIN HAVE SPOKEN, AND THEY WANT SAFE, LEGAL, THIRD PARTY TESTED CANNABIS OPTIONS MADE RIGHT HERE IN WISCONSIN. AND THAT’S WHAT WE DO HERE. AND THERE’S NOTHING WRONG WITH IT. BUT BARRING A CHANGE OVER THE NEXT YEAR, THE ENTIRE HEMP BASED THC INDUSTRY HERE WILL GO UP IN SMOKE IN WAUWATOSA, NICK BOHR WISN 12 NEWS. NOW, BOTH BUSINESS OWNERS TELL 12 NEWS THAT THEY’LL WORK WITH LEGISLATORS TO TRY AND REVERSE TH
Looming ban on hemp-based THC products could ‘devastate’ Wisconsin business
A new addition to the government shutdown bill would outlaw hemp-based THC products, threatening Wisconsin businesses and jobs.
Updated: 6:29 PM CST Nov 12, 2025
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Hemp-based THC drinks and gummies, legalized in a 2018 federal farm bill, are facing a potential nationwide ban due to new legislation added to the government shutdown bill.Matt Swanson, who spoke with WISN 12 News in February about his Sheboygan-based business Drinkin’ Buds, said, “To just shutter it in a year would be devastating.” His company was nearing sales of a million cans a year of their canned THC cocktails.Language inserted this week into the bill ending the government shutdown would outlaw hemp-based products like Swanson’s nationwide. “This feels about as un-American as it gets. I mean, the day after Veterans Day, as a U.S. veteran, I feel like the government, our government, is stabbing me and the other veterans, and other Americans in the industry right in the back on this,” Swanson said. The impact would extend beyond suppliers. The industry has advanced to the point where there are entire storefront businesses, such as Kelly’s Greens in Wauwatosa, that would be severely affected. “Our number-one seller is our sleep gummy,” owner Erin Kelly said.She believes the ban will kill her business and leave her seven workers unemployed. “I’m not going to sit back and watch the federal government pull the rug out from under an industry that they have allowed to be created for the last seven years. It will be devastating,” Kelly said.U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell added the ban to the shutdown bill, stating it closes a loophole that allowed the production of intoxicating hemp. Kelly argues that the ban claims to fix a problem that doesn’t exist. “How do you put the toothpaste back in the tube? People in Wisconsin have spoken, and they want safe, legal, third-party tested cannabis options made right here in Wisconsin, and that’s what we do here, and there’s nothing wrong with it,” Kelly said.Both business owners told WISN 12 News they will work with legislators to try to reverse the ban, which would otherwise go into effect in one year.Top HeadlinesTeen serial rapist sentenced to 35 years behind bars for ‘monstrous conduct”They’re ruining our lives’: Gold bar scam sweeping WisconsinWhat are northern lights? Here’s what to know about aurorasWATCH Obama surprises Wisconsin veterans on Honor Flight to Washington
Hemp-based THC drinks and gummies, legalized in a 2018 federal farm bill, are facing a potential nationwide ban due to new legislation added to the government shutdown bill.
Matt Swanson, who spoke with WISN 12 News in February about his Sheboygan-based business Drinkin’ Buds, said, “To just shutter it in a year would be devastating.”
His company was nearing sales of a million cans a year of their canned THC cocktails.
Language inserted this week into the bill ending the government shutdown would outlaw hemp-based products like Swanson’s nationwide.
“This feels about as un-American as it gets. I mean, the day after Veterans Day, as a U.S. veteran, I feel like the government, our government, is stabbing me and the other veterans, and other Americans in the industry right in the back on this,” Swanson said.
The impact would extend beyond suppliers. The industry has advanced to the point where there are entire storefront businesses, such as Kelly’s Greens in Wauwatosa, that would be severely affected.
“Our number-one seller is our sleep gummy,” owner Erin Kelly said.
She believes the ban will kill her business and leave her seven workers unemployed.
“I’m not going to sit back and watch the federal government pull the rug out from under an industry that they have allowed to be created for the last seven years. It will be devastating,” Kelly said.
U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell added the ban to the shutdown bill, stating it closes a loophole that allowed the production of intoxicating hemp. Kelly argues that the ban claims to fix a problem that doesn’t exist.
“How do you put the toothpaste back in the tube? People in Wisconsin have spoken, and they want safe, legal, third-party tested cannabis options made right here in Wisconsin, and that’s what we do here, and there’s nothing wrong with it,” Kelly said.
Both business owners told WISN 12 News they will work with legislators to try to reverse the ban, which would otherwise go into effect in one year.
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