GOP senators call for DOJ to investigate Chinese role in hemp, cannabis markets

Four GOP senators who opposed the delay of a ban on intoxicating hemp products are calling on the Justice Department to investigate the role of Chinese criminal networks in America’s cannabis and intoxicating hemp markets.

In a Wednesday letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche, the senators said Chinese criminal networks “are exploiting vulnerabilities in federal law to operate expansive illicit drug enterprises that threaten our communities and national security.”

Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Ted Budd (R-N.C.) wrote that the Drug Enforcement Administration’s 2025 National Drug Threat Assessment found that Chinese transnational criminal organizations dominate marijuana cultivation and distribution in the United States, especially in states with legal cannabis markets.

“These organizations purchase and lease American land for illegal grow operations, traffic foreign workers, and use toxic pesticides and fertilizers shipped from China, including chemicals banned in the United States,” they added.

The senators said closing the “hemp loophole” would help counter the Chinese efforts.

The loophole was brought about by the GOP-passed 2018 Farm Bill, which removed hemp from the controlled substances list and allowed unregulated, intoxicating hemp and THC products to flood the market.

Congress closed the loophole last year, but a White House-led push led Congress to delay the ban by three weeks. The new deadline is Dec. 11.

Budd and Ricketts were the lead sponsors of a Senate amendment to the government spending bill to strip the delay from the legislation and keep the original ban in place.

“Leaving the loophole unaddressed would give these networks additional time to flood American commerce with synthetic products,” the lawmakers wrote. “This would also further entrench their operations on American soil, fund their enterprises with illicit revenue, and expose consumers to unregulated, dangerous synthetic products masquerading as legal hemp.”