Florida Democratic Party Chair Slams Congress Over Federal Hemp Ban, Saying Her State Will Legalize Marijuana Next Year

The chair of the Florida Democratic Party, Nikki Fried, says the looming federal hemp ban that was tucked into a spending bill President Donald Trump signed into law this month is precisely why people “hate government”—with a multi-billion-dollar industry now in jeopardy just years after the crop was federally legalized. And she believes lawmakers will have “no choice” but to come back and “fix this” as the cannabis business communities rallies for a reversal.

Fried, who previously served as Florida’s agriculture commissioner and helped foster the state’s then-nascent hemp market, told Marijuana Moment in a phone interview that small farmers and businesses immediately began reaching out to her after the appropriations measure was enacted, expressing confusion, fear and “anger across the board” over provisions banning consumable hemp products that are currently set to take effect next November.

“It is gut wrenching,” she said, describing stories of people who “put their entire life savings into these small businesses” and “finally started to see positive revenue” before Congress abruptly took the step of rolling back federal hemp laws amid concerns about unregulated intoxicating cannabinoid products.

“This is why people hate government. These are people’s livelihoods,” the state party chair said. “And in the middle of the night, to see people making votes on an issue that they have zero understanding and zero knowledge on come in and ban an entire industry, picking winners and losers, is what turns people off—regardless of what side of the aisle you’re on.”

Fried, who as Florida’s agriculture commissioner sued the Biden administration over a federal law blocking medical cannabis patients from having firearms, has been closely monitoring marijuana and hemp policy issues at the federal and state level for years. That includes another effort in her state to put adult-use cannabis legalization on the ballot—which she believes will prevail even if Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) tries to “play games” and prevent it from going to voters next year.

At the federal level, while Fried is frustrated to see the hemp ban move forward, she thinks the marijuana rescheduling proposal awaiting action by the president—who endorsed the policy change on the campaign trail—still has a chance of being implemented.

“I hope that he follows through on that promise and that there are enough people in his ears that are telling him that the polling is showing the American people are in support of not only decriminalizing, but completely descheduling” marijuana, she said.

Marijuana Moment spoke with Fried about the potential impact of the federal hemp ban, Trump administration cannabis policy issues and more. The following interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

Nikki Fried: The small business owners, our smaller farmers, have been reaching out to me since they woke up and saw that this [becoming law]. It’s gut-wrenching stories of people who have finally started to see positive revenue, that put their entire life savings into these small businesses—mom and pop stores, small farmers—and they’re scared. They’re scared that their entire life savings and their entire opportunities in this industry are going to be gone.

There’s a lot of confusion. There’s a lot of questions and a lot of anger across the board from from people that I’ve interacted with here in Florida and across the country. In the middle of the night, [Congress] passed a piece of legislation that banned something that’s going to impact jobs, the economy, small businesses, farms and regulatory standards that we’ve all been operating under since 2018. There’s a lot of fear and frustration.

Nikki Fried: They will have no choice. They made a colossal mistake, killing an entire industry that has benefited farmers growing alternative crops and small businesses.

The industry has finally gotten to a point where the consumers are used to looking for products, patients that have gotten off of opioids and other pharmaceutical drugs using hemp-derived products as an alternative for our seniors—including my grandmother who used to take some gummies before she played poker—and to veterans who don’t want to be on the medical marijuana registries across our country that are using these products.

[Lawmakers are] going to hear from their constituents, and they’re going to hear anger. They’re going to be frustrated with government when you are talking about 400,000+ jobs and a $50 billion industry. And that’s just the core industry. That’s not all of the other support mechanisms, from trade shows to processing plants to testing labs. There’s going to be a lot of frustrated people, and they’re going to have their day with their elected representatives, and they’re going to have no choice but to come in and fix this.

This will have such a drastic impact on communities. They’re going to have to come in and they’re going to have to fix this.

Yea, y’all f**ked up real bad here. Farmers, small businesses, veterans, seniors, 400k plus jobs, local economy, interstate commerce, law enforcement, banking … all impacted.

what are you guys doing up there!?!

This is why people hate government. https://t.co/NCxSkVIFwt

— Nikki Fried (@NikkiFried) November 17, 2025

Nikki Fried: I think that’s one of the big things that we’re going to have to deal with, is that we’re going to go look into a state-by-state regulatory program. Look at what’s happened in the marijuana space. You still have issues with banking, tax reforms, interstate commerce. And so while each state is going to figure out whether or not they want to come into the space and regulate it, there is going to be a problem with interstate commerce that these companies are not going to be able to figure out how to get around.

I think that the industry as a whole always understood that more regulations were necessary. I came into this space in 2019 wanting to create a program with checks and balances, creating an environment where entrepreneurs can grow their businesses, farmers can use this as an alternative crop—but at the end day, we have to make sure it’s still safe for consumers. That’s increasing of testing standards, QR codes, age restrictions, pesticide [restrictions]. all of that has to be regulated.

There is a way if people can put aside the special interests that play in this arena, from alcohol to tobacco to pharma to the multi-state operators.

[Consumers are] demanding alternatives to Big Pharma. They’re demanding alternatives to alcohol—to some of the the consumer friendly products—and the states are going to have to figure out where they go from here. But at the end of the day, this is a big step backwards, and they’re going to find very quickly that this was not the right call.

Nikki Fried: The one thing I do know to be true is that President Trump relies a lot on polling, and the American people are tired of this prohibition. They’re tired of lawmakers coming in who have zero understanding of the impacts of the cannabis industry—the economic impacts, the healthcare impacts and making laws based on lobbyists and financial resources that have been provided to those elected. Trump is no different.

When he looks at the polling that the American people are wanting [cannabis] not only rescheduled, but more importantly descheduled to allow for this industry to grow and to eliminate a lot of the barriers that have been put in front of so many in the industry. Again, whether it’s banking, whether it’s insurance, whether it’s 280E or interstate commerce, the regulatory framework doesn’t work.

I’m obviously not in President Trump’s ears like I was in the previous administration that first made the decision to move to rescheduling, but I’m hopeful that he’s hearing from small businesses, that he’s hearing from farmers, that he’s hearing from veterans who are using this as alternatives to the pharmaceuticals that they were being prescribed at the VA and that they start moving on this. This is way too long. The people of this nation are tired of this fight, and it’s time to end prohibition.

Nikki Fried: I do believe that the hemp industry is organized. They have a couple of trade associations—and, from my conversations with the industry, they are planning on a full-court press not only to Trump and his inner circles, but also to, obviously, Congress. I don’t know what side he’s on. I’m always hopeful that he’s on the side of the American people.

I can’t always be a predictor of that one, but I do hope that he is seeing and will be hearing from enough of these stories that I’ve been hearing—from the small business owners, the small farmers, the veterans, the seniors who are now grappling with how they’re going to get their medicine, because they view it as medicine to them. You know, I don’t know whose side he’s on, but I certainly hope that he’s on the side of enough is enough.

Nikki Fried: I do see it getting onto the ballot. I think Ron DeSantis is doing his last attempt to play politics and to play games to keep it off the ballot, and trying to use maneuvers that are not legal and not constitutional. So he’s going to lose in the court, and then this will have an opportunity to get back in front of the Florida Supreme Court with very similar language that they approved last time with some cleanups.

I do believe that it will get on to the ballot in 2026 and the language that they have changed to should quell any of the propaganda that was used to take it down the first time. The fact that 56 percent voted for this the first time, with $50 million dollars of taxpayer-funded propaganda spent to take it down, DeSantis won’t have that luxury of taxpayer dollars the next round. And so I believe that the campaign will be able to get across the finish line in 2026.

Nikki Fried: There is a way for both the hemp side and the [multi-state operator] side to be able to come together. Everybody has to put on their big girl and boy pants, realize that there is a large enough market—that there is an upside benefit of full legalization of this plant—and it’s going to take industry leaders to come together and try to propose a full regulatory program that takes care of those that have decided to go towards the hemp space and those that are staying in the traditional marijuana space until which time that better angels prevail on both sides and they recognize that everybody has an opportunity to move this ball forward.

But we got to do it together. You’re going to continue to see this tension. It’s people’s bottom lines. It’s their families and businesses, and people take this personally so we need to get the industry leaders together to put aside their egos, to put aside their financial windfalls and to start recognizing that there’s a way to do it—but we’ve got to do it together.

Nikki Fried: This is why people hate government. These are people’s livelihoods that they have invested all of their life savings in. This is their kids’ college funds. This is retirement funds. And in the middle of the night, to see people making votes on an issue that they have zero understanding and zero knowledge on—to just come in and ban an entire industry and picking winners and losers—is what turns people off, regardless of what side of the aisle you’re on. You saw the Republicans voting one way. You saw a whole bunch of Democrats voting that way too. And so this isn’t a partisan fight on this issue. This is bad government.