CRAFT Policy Bulletin: When the Lie Breaks. Federal Cannabis Rescheduling and the Case for Industry-Led Standards

Chasity Wedgeworth lead instructor on CRAFT.

Executive Summary

For more than fifty years, federal cannabis policy rested on a premise that was widely understood, by scientists, doctors, regulators, courts, and policymakers themselves, to be false: that marijuana has “no accepted medical use.” That assertion, enshrined in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, persisted not because it was credible, but because abandoning it would have required acknowledging that an entire enforcement and regulatory framework was built on a known untruth.

The federal government’s movement toward rescheduling cannabis marks a quiet but consequential shift. It is not legalization. It is not absolution. It is an institutional admission that the gap between law and reality has become too large to manage through denial and workaround.

For the hemp and cannabis marketplace, this moment carries both opportunity and risk. The question is no longer whether the old framework will hold. It is whether the industry can demonstrate that it deserves a better one.

CRAFT’s Position

CRAFT views federal rescheduling as a structural inflection point, not a victory lap.

History shows that when institutions cling to managed narratives instead of confronting reality, the eventual correction is rarely gentle. When the truth finally breaks containment, the systems that survive are those with discipline, documentation, and standards already in place.

CRAFT’s position is clear:

If the federal government is forced to move away from legal fiction, the industry must move toward provable responsibility.

Self-regulation is no longer optional. It is the prerequisite for credibility.

What Rescheduling Signals (and What It Does Not)

Rescheduling signals:

• An acknowledgment that cannabis does, in fact, have accepted medical use

• Recognition that the existing federal posture has created regulatory distortion, tax inequity, and enforcement inconsistency

• A shift toward risk-based oversight rather than symbolic prohibition

Rescheduling does NOT mean:

• Federal legalization

• The end of enforcement

• A relaxed posture toward retailers, manufacturers, or service providers

• Automatic normalization of banking, insurance, or payments

If anything, expect heightened scrutiny during the transition.

Why Standards Matter Now

As federal contradictions unwind, states, especially Texas, will face increased pressure to demonstrate control, consumer protection, and workforce competency.

CRAFT believes regulators, legislators, banks, and the public will increasingly ask:

• Are employees trained to handle intoxicating products responsibly?

• Are potency, dosing, and onset time clearly understood at the point of sale?

• Are products consistently tested, verified, and traceable?

• Are businesses operating with documented SOPs, not informal norms?

Only one answer protects the industry long-term: standards you can prove.

CRAFT Priority Pillars

CRAFT will continue advancing industry-led standards in four core areas:

1. Workforce Training

Standardized education for retail and service staff covering:

• Dosing and milligram literacy

• 21 & Over verification

• Onset time and consumer safety

• Refusal-of-service and incident response

• Security and compliance awareness

2. Packaging & Labeling Discipline

Clear, consistent expectations for:

• Potency disclosure per serving and per package

• Warning language and age-restriction visibility

• Not marketed or attractive towards children

• Shelf controls to prevent over-intoxication events

3. Testing & COA Verification

Documented systems for:

• COA intake, review, and validation

• Lot and batch traceability

• Spot-checking and audit readiness

4. Compliance Documentation & Readiness

Operational proof designed for:

• Regulators

• Financial institutions

• Insurers and partners

Training records. SOPs. Verified products. Clean paper trails.

CRAFT Member Guidance

CRAFT members should act now to:

• Formalize employee training and certification records

• Review ingestible product potency and serving controls

• Standardize COA intake and documentation procedures

• Prepare a compliance-ready operating file that demonstrates due diligence

These steps are not about optics. They are about survivability.

Closing Statement

History rarely turns on dramatic confessions. More often, it shifts when institutions quietly concede that denial has become more dangerous than truth.

Federal cannabis rescheduling will not be remembered as the end of prohibition. It will be remembered as the moment the lie finally broke containment.

CRAFT exists to ensure that when it does, this industry is ready.

Standards first. Training always. Proof over promises.

This bulletin was informed by policy analysis and historical context provided by Jay Maguire, whose work examines the structural contradictions of federal cannabis law and their long-term regulatory impacts.

Check out Jay Maguire's Full Story Here