New Belgium & Willie Nelson are Teaming Up for Hemp Reform
Two weeks ago, the U.S. Senate passed the FARM Bill, which includes plans to make growing, harvesting, and selling hemp legal. That bill still has to get the okay of the House of Representatives and Trump, so three parties - The Vote Hemp Organization; GCH, Inc, which is Willie Nelson's legal cannabis company; and New Belgium Brewing - have come together to form a new team.
The American Hemp Campaign officially launched on July 4th, and plans to highlight the economic benefits of nationally legalized marijuana, and call for legislative reform.
With the release of New Belgium's Hemporer I.P.A. earlier this year, now both they and Willie commercially offer a form of cannabis product - Nelson's being Willie's Reserve, which is available in Colorado, as well as California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.
Since New Belgium markets Hemporer to all 50 states, CEO Steve Fechheimer was overwhelmed by the amount of stumbling blocks that were involved.
At New Belgium we launched a hemp-based beer, the Hemperor HPA, this spring, and the regulatory hurdles to get to market just seemed outrageously outdated and onerous. Beer is an agricultural product, and we see hemp as a potentially game-changing ingredient in brewing, so we are proud to take a stand along with Willie and the Vote Hemp folks to get these laws updated to benefit beer drinkers and farmers across the country.
Nelson is said to believe strongly in the "importance of industrial hemp to help farmers, the environment and society."