New White Paper Offers Roadmap for Ending Hemp-Marijuana Divide, Federal Regulation

*DENVER* — A new white paper by the cannabis policy analysts at Strategies
64 offers a detailed roadmap for ending federal cannabis prohibition and
the currently bifurcated approach to federal cannabis policy — the
separation of marijuana” and “hemp” — and establishing a coherent, viable
national regulatory framework.

*The One-plant Solution: Recommendations for Advancing a National Unified
Cannabis Policy and Federal Regulatory Framework* is available as a free
download. It was publicly presented and discussed at the second annual
Cannabis Policy Institute Symposium at University of Nevada at Las Vegas in
December, where it received a positive response. It has since been updated
to account for President Donald Trump’s executive order on rescheduling.

The paper explains how the current federal approach to cannabis has created
a fragmented and unstable policy landscape that rewards loophole chasing,
weakens consumer protections, complicates enforcement, and undercuts public
health research and data collection. States have worked to fill the void,
demonstrating that regulated cannabis systems can work, but contradictions
embedded in federal law still result is confusion for regulators,
businesses, and consumers alike.

Strategies 64 lays out a “one-plant solution” — a clear, achievable plan
for establishing a fair, familiar, and workable regulatory framework that
regulates cannabis as one plant, prioritizes public health and safety, and
reflects the realities of today’s market. In summary:

Deschedule botanical cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act and
regulate it as one plant through existing federal authorities, aligning it
with the nation’s typical approach to product safety for food, dietary
supplements, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and adult-restricted products.

Preserve state autonomy, allowing each state to continue setting its own
policies and serving as the primary regulator.

Establish national guidelines to support states with clear standards for
product safety, youth access prevention, marketing, taxation, and product
authentication.

The analysis and detailed policy recommendations in the paper were informed
by extensive stakeholder input and feedback from across the marijuana and
hemp spaces. Over the course of three months, Strategies 64 conducted more
than 80 interviews with federal officials, state regulators, policy
experts, advocates, trade association leaders, and business operators,
including cultivators, manufacturers, retailers, and testing facility
operators, to collect and contemplate their perspectives and gain insight
into the on-the-ground realities of governments and businesses.

The paper also highlights the timeliness of its recommended reforms, as
Congress acted in November 2025 to recriminalize most hemp-derived products
by November 2026. Paired with Trump’s recent order to reschedule marijuana,
the subject of federal cannabis classification is gaining significant
attention and a unique sense of urgency among federal officials.

“This plan is designed to be realistic and achievable, leveraging existing
regulatory infrastructure and respecting political constraints, while
delivering durable, enforceable policy that aligns with current market
realities,” said Jordan Wellington, managing partner at Strategies 64.
“With marijuana rescheduling and hemp-derived product rules in flux,
stakeholders across the spectrum are calling the two-track system confusing
and unworkable. Federal leaders should seize this moment to reset U.S.
cannabis policy and bring clarity, consistency, and a public safety focus
to the U.S. cannabis market.”