Colorado's Hemp Conundrum: A Threat to the Nation's First Legal Marijuana Market A virtual meeting between top regulators and industry representatives in March revealed that Colorado's Marijuana Enforcement Division has struggled to contain the amount of chemically converted hemp being sold as marijuana.
This issue, which dates back to 2018 when Congress legalized hemp, has become an existential threat to the state's recreational marijuana market.
Regulators acknowledged that the extent of illicit hemp sales is "larger than we can quantify," according to a private meeting between Kyle Lambert, deputy senior director of the enforcement division, and industry insiders.