The Federal and State Hemp Ban Aftermath : 4 Major Problems
How the Federal and StateHemp Ban Could Trigger a nationwide Retail Collapse and Negatively Reshape the Economy
When politicians and regulators talk about the new federal and state hemp regulations—specifically the proposed 0.4mg THC cap—they speak exclusively in moral absolutes. They use frightening language about “public safety,” “closing loopholes,” and “protecting the children.” These are effective soundbites.
But there is a quieter, more dangerous conversation that nobody is having, and it’s one we can’t afford to ignore: The economic crater this legislation will leave in the heart of our tourist district and across the nation. Remember. Not only is hawaii banning 90% of products, but also the federal government. This will undoubtedly destroy countless businesses.
I’m from Detroit, Michigan. I know what empty storefronts look like. I grew up seeing what happens when an industry evaporates overnight, leaving behind a vacuum that nothing else can fill. I’ve seen the “For Lease” signs that eventually fade into “Foreclosure” notices. If we aren’t careful, we are about to inflict that same blight on the most valuable streets in Hawai‘i and every other state in the nation. Theres multiple problems that could arise if this legislation is upheld. Some include but are not limited to:
Decimation of Products
The proposed federal ban effectively outlaws 90-95% of the products currently on shelves. Let’s be clear: this isn’t a “regulation” or a “tweak.” It is a mass eviction notice. If this law takes effect, you aren’t just going to see products disappear. You are going to see businesses disappear. We are looking at a potential extinction event for dozens of small businesses across O‘ahu because very few businesses can survive only selling topicals and raw powders. When those businesses fold, the rent checks stop coming, and the state slows down. Big time. Every person in the state will feel the decline and loss of the crucial tax revenue.
Closure of Vital Businesses
In my specific example—Walk down Kalākaua or Kūhiō Avenue today. Really look at the retail landscape. Count the number of smoke shops, kiosks, and wellness boutiques selling hemp-derived products. There’s one on nearly every street. Five years ago, these might have been fringe businesses, but today, we can be considered a pillar of retail real estate in Waikiki.
We aren’t hiding in back alleys. We are paying prime commercial rents in some of the most expensive square footage in the United States. We took over spaces that big chains and souvenir shops couldn’t sustain — even in the age of Amazon. We renovated dilapidated storefronts and streets. We revived many parts of a dead landscape. Our tax dollars funded the states billions. We fed people. We cleaned the state. We funded schools. And now all of that will go down the drain because of corporate interests, greed, and lack of awareness.
Forfeiture of Valuable Tax Dollars and Economy Strengthening Revenue
The damage won’t stop at the landlord’s bank account. It destroys every facet of the economy from top to bottom. Small businesses like ours are the engine, and life blood of a localized “multiplier effect.”
When a customer buys a product from Oahu Dispensary, that money doesn’t disappear into a corporate headquarters in New York or Toronto. It stays here. It pays the local laborers who help us in our business endeavors. It pays the local accountant who handles our books. It pays the hawaii wholesales that supply our stores. It pays the Waikiki cleaning crews and aloha ambassadors. It goes to the state who fund schools, and fix roads. It funds our donations to Sustainable Coastlines Hawai‘i, Plant a Tree Hawaii, Inc., Last Prisoner Project, and many more.
If you wipe out the hemp industry, you aren’t just killing the retailers. You are slashing the revenue of every local vendor who supports us and even the state who so greatly depends on our tax revenue! You are defunding the charities we support. You are taking money out of the pockets of local families and sending it... nowhere. It just vanishes.
Strengthening of the Black Market
Here is the ugliest truth that prohibitionists refuse to acknowledge: Banning the legal sale of a product does not ban the demand for it. It increases the demand, and with no legal outlets, the demand is led to the worst place imaginable. The Black Market.
If our kiosks close, the tourists aren’t going to stop wanting relief for their anxiety or pain. They will just stop buying it from a licensed, tax-paying business that checks IDs and fully tests its products. Instead, they will buy it from a sketchy guy with a backpack on the street who’s also selling various tainted drugs. Does everyone remember the tourists who died in a hotel from buying dirty drugs?1 Awesome. That’s now what the state and federal government are forcing with this new federal and state hemp ban.
The “Backpack Dealer” doesn’t pay rent. He doesn’t pay taxes. He doesn’t check IDs. He definitely doesn’t send his product to a lab to test for pesticides or fentanyl. By shutting down the regulated hemp market, the government is effectively handing a monopoly to the illicit market. They are trading safe, well-lit storefronts for shady, unregulated street deals. Is that really “public safety”? This is atrocious and shameful.
In Conclusion: Regulate, Don’t Eviscerate
I am a businessman, and I am a realist. I understand the need for rules. I want age verification. I want strict labeling standards. I want mandatory third-party lab testing. I want to pay my taxes and operate in the light.
But there is a profound difference between pruning a tree to help it grow and pulling it down at the roots. By trying to ban these products entirely, both the state and federal governments are threatening to chop down a significant branch of our local and domestic economy.
We are ready to work with the state and federal government to operate safely. But we need our leaders to do the math. Can the USA afford a commercial real estate crash right now? Can the state afford to lose the tax revenue and the community support we provide? Can Hawaii officials afford more blood on their hands from tainted medicine due to the restrictive access they just proposed?
If this ban goes through, the whole world will feel it—and it wont be pretty.
Lance Alyas
Oahu Dispensary and Provisions
https://apnews.com/article/fentanyl-fatal-overdose-hawaii-waikiki-3e0d118fb0e8c5fb5a87692e26fd3d3a