Licenses to grow hemp in GA, TN, WV, and AL

I asked Gemini A.I.: What does it take to get a license to grow hemp in GA, TN, WV, and AL — Republican states that had wide-open THC sales like NC has now? Like personal qualifications and fees? Answer for both nonintoxicating industrial hemp and regulated intoxicating hemp. 

Gemini’s answer, which might contain hallucinations, for all I know:

In 2026, the landscape for hemp cultivation in these four states is significantly more regulated than the “wild-open” era of the early 2020s. While you can still grow hemp, the distinction between Industrial Hemp (fiber/grain) and Consumable/Intoxicating Hemp (cannabinoids like CBD, Delta-8) now dictates which licenses you need and how much you will pay.

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State monopoly retailing of intoxicating hemp THC in North Carolina?

Pros and cons from Gemini A.I. — but first: Gemini left out at least one “pro”:  It’s easy to switch from government sales to private sales; to switch from private sales to government sales is hard, because it requires demolishing an entrenched industry.  And it left out at least one “con”:   Old-time marijuana fans think government lied to them about marijuana, so they hate government involvement.  They’re meaningful market segment, and they would tend to boycott government stores and to buy from bootleggers.  

And a better detailed general analysis is in the RAND report for Vermont, https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR864.html, on pages 60-64.

Here’s Gemini:

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In North Carolina, the conversation around a “state monopoly” on intoxicating hemp—similar to the ABC (Alcoholic Beverage Control) system for liquor—is a growing legislative debate in 2026. This follows recent federal moves to close the “hemp loophole” and a push by state lawmakers to move the “Wild West” market into a more controlled environment.

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State cannabis retailing monopoly — backup plan if found illegal.

If a state cannabis monopoly starts doing business and then runs into trouble because of federal illegality, states have considered having a backup commercial system spring into being. I asked Gemini A.I. to remind me of their ideas. Here’s the answer:

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In both Pennsylvania and New Hampshire, the debate over a state-run “monopoly” led to the development of a specific “safety valve” or “trigger” mechanism. This plan was designed to automatically switch the state to a private commercial system if the state-run model was struck down in court or deemed a violation of federal law.

The state most associated with this “Plan B” is New Hampshire.

Continue reading “State cannabis retailing monopoly — backup plan if found illegal.”

Hemp THC licensing in Republican states

What does it take to get a license to sell regulated intoxicating hemp in GA, TN, WV, and AL — states that had wide-open THC sales like NC now: Personal qualifications and fees. 

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From Gemini A.I.

Getting a license to sell “intoxicating” hemp products (like Delta-8 or Delta-10 [and Delta-9 — PO) has become more regulated in the South recently. As of 2026, most of these states have shifted oversight to their Alcohol and Beverage Control (ABC) boards or Department of Agriculture, requiring specific licenses and background checks.

Below is the breakdown for the four states you requested.

1. Georgia

Georgia regulates “consumable hemp” through the Department of Agriculture (GDA).

  • License Type: Retail Consumable Hemp Establishment License.
  • Fees: $250 annually per retail location.
  • Personal Qualifications:
    • Background Check: Required for all “key participants.” Applicants must not have a felony conviction related to a controlled substance in the last 10 years.
    • Age: Must be 21+ to purchase, but the state allows individuals under 21 to be employees (though they cannot be the license holder).
  • Notable Rules: Your store cannot be within 500 feet of a K-12 school. You must also display a specific warning sign in letters at least 0.5 inches high.
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Seed to sale tracking of intoxicating hemp products

North Carolina is struggling with wide-open intoxicating hemp THC, which other states that started there have restricted and regulated — not banned.  Like North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, and West Virginia have Republican Legislatures.

Here’s what they do about seed to sale tracking, according to Gemini A.I. (nothing).

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Allow flipping of THC licenses in NC?

What are the pros and cons of allowing cannabis licenses to be transferred for consideration? Does it matter how they were issued (lottery, on the merits, by auction)?  As we look at THC licensing in North Carolina, what should we think?

From Gemini A.I.:

Allowing the transfer of cannabis licenses for “consideration” (money or value) is a debated policy point in every state that legalizes. While it encourages investment and market fluidity, it also risks turning public licenses into speculative commodities.

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Virginia’s weak weed tax plan  

The flat eight percent tax in Virginia’s cannabis legalization proposal is primitive and weak.  The cannabis industry must be delighted.    

Problem:  Under the Virginia proposal, when the price is $200 an ounce, the state gets $16; when the price is $100 an ounce, the state gets $8.   But taxes need to go up over time.  Think tanks left (ITEP) and right (Tax Foundation) agree.  Pre-tax prices will be high at first, then they’ll crash.  (In every state, the market matures, and industry gets more efficient.)  

Let taxes go up:  The after-tax price is what matters in battling the black market. 

Weak solution:  New Mexico ratchets up its 12 percent price tax to 18 percent by 2030, and the leading Congressional legalization bill ratchet ups from 5 percent to 8 percent.

Strong solution:  Tax by grams of THC, the intoxicating molecule.  That’s state of the art, and what Canada and Connecticut do.  Then when prices collapse, the tax doesn’t collapse, too.

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Taxes are the caboose on the train of legalization, and they don’t get much attention.  

Licensing and Revenue: For the Market Structure Subcommittee of North Carolina Cannabis Advisory Council 

Question #3 of our seven “Policy Questions” is about “how the state issues licenses (e.g., through a lottery or competitive application process).”

Reasonable minds can differ.  Here’s some speculation.  

There are trade-offs.  One factor among very many is how licensing affects timing and amount of revenue needed to regulate the market.  (Maybe revenue is the caboose on the train of regulation, and cash flow is the taillight on the caboose, but you have to start somewhere.)

Cannabis can bring in government revenue to pay for the regulation that legalization entails– but unluckily, not at first.  So the market starts off chaotically if appropriators and agencies don’t pre-fund cannabis regulation adequately somehow.  Bad for folks in the market.  Bad for the public.  

No answers, but here are some sticks to throw on the fire – options for licensing – ranked according to earliness of cash flow.  But see three undesirable Downsides to this approach at the end. 

Options

1.     Application fees for limited licenses 

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North Carolina Cannabis Advisory Council questions

MARKET STRUCTURE SUBCOMITTEE

Policy Questions

  • Do you recommend a vertically integrated model (i.e., a single company controlling the process from seed to sale)? If so, do you have recommendations on what size or level?
  • Do you recommend the state includes existing CBD and hemp retail entities in this new regulation model?
  • Do you have any recommendations on how the state issue licenses (i.e., through a lottery or competitive application process)?
  • Do you recommend the state limits the number of licenses available?
  • Should there be a residency requirement for licensees?
  • Should there be a capital requirement for licensees?
  • Do you recommend any social equity provisions, such as license prioritization, fee waivers, or business support programs?

Farm Bill THC Drugs and Taxes

Pending Congressional restriction of Farm Bill Hemp THC Drugs will tax them.   Proposals before Congress would classify these drugs as “marijuana,” and put them into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, at least for now.  All Schedule I substances are subject to the 280E selling expense tax.  

Will the Joint Committee on Taxation score this revenue gain?

Must this kind of back door revenue raising bill originate in the House?

Does this legislation violate Grover Norquist’s No Tax Pledge — and set up primaries for the bill’s supporters? Grover famously tolerates “marijuana” taxes, since they involve a liberating move from prohibition to taxed sales.  But cracking down on Farm Bill Drugs means moving from a free market to regulation and from untaxed sales to taxed sales. Is there some exception to the No Tax Pledge for “loophole closers”? Lots of tax increases that need to happen are loophole closers.

Now I suspect that the 2018 Farm Bill “loophole” that carved hemp drugs out of taxed “marijuana” was not scored as a revenue loser.  But supposedly no one knew that that bill was legalizing intoxicants.

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Schedule III and tax scoring, from 2015:  

Revenue loss from 280E

Farm Bill Drugs:

https://www.marijuanamoment.net/congressional-researchers-detail-divergent-opinions-on-hemp-as-lawmakers-debate-thc-ban/

Congress targets intoxicating hemp product loophole

https://www.kslaw.com/news-and-insights/congressional-crack-down-on-hemp-loophole-significant-changes-loom-for-hemp-industry

Congress targets intoxicating hemp product loophole

Hemp drugs will not be prohibited in NC — or will they?

“With hemp THC drugs wide open 24/7 and unregulated in North Carolina now, I see no chance that they will be fully prohibited.  So I think the only hope for North Carolina is to regulate them.” — I wrote that in September, but now in November that Congress is treating hemp like marijuana, I’m not so sure. Here’s what I thought back then:

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Schedule III for only medical cannabis?

There’s speculation that the Trump Administration might reschedule cannabis into Schedule II rather than the predicted Schedule III.  That sounds doubtful.  To exhaust the possibilities, here’s another doubtful option — a little light-hearted speculation.

President Trump has said the following about cannabis—

“I’ve heard great things having to do with medical, and I’ve had bad things having to do with just about everything else. But medical, and, you know, for pain and various things.”

What if he wanted rescheduling for only medical cannabis into Schedule III, while leaving adult-use in Schedule I? It sounds crazy, but anything can happen these days, and President Trump calls the shots.

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New York repealed its THC tax

I’m as big a fan of a potency tax as you can find, so I’m sad to say that New York repealed its THC tax in 2024. https://mjbizdaily.com/most-new-york-marijuana-operators-save-big-without-potency-tax/  Legal sellers in New York were having so much trouble  competing with illicit sellers that they succeeded not only in reducing the tax burden but in changing the tax base from milligrams of THC to an ad valorem (percentage of price) tax. I think people in state government were desperate to give legal sellers any relief they asked for.

Still, Connecticut continues its THC tax, as does Canada.  Bravo.  Illinois’s weird little combination tax is still on the books. It taxes products more heavily if they cross the 35% THC line with a higher ad valorem rate. The intent was to tax flower at a lower rate than concentrates, which would have been doable, but they somehow landed on this bright line 35% threshold, which is not ideal technically.