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.”
