Who?
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) — Ranking Member, Senate Finance Committee
LISTEN: Laslo & Wyden
Ask a Pol asks:
What do you make of these efforts to changes to the definition of hemp?
Key Wyden:
“Our bill…is the most balanced bill to accommodate all the hemp interests,” Sen. Ron Wyden exclusively tells Ask a Pol. “What we want to do is have a balanced approach that moves as much product in a safe way, respects the safety concerns of families and that's why we spent all this time on it.”
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Caught our ear:
“We need a regulatory regime,” Wyden tells us, “but you gotta have something that is a framework, and that's what our bill is.”
Below find a rough transcript of Ask a Pol’s exclusive interview with Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), slightly edited for clarity.
TRANSCRIPT: Sen. Ron Wyden (7-17-2025)
SCENE: After voting on the Senate floor, Sen. Ron Wyden’s waiting for one of the Senate’s underground trams when Ask a Pol’s Matt Laslo snags him for this quick update on his hemp measure with Oregon’s other Democratic US Senator, Jeff Merkley.
PSA: Wyden’s Cannabinoid Safety and Regulation Act
Matt Laslo: “Look at this young man.”
Sen. Wyden smiles.
ML: “What do you make of these changes to the hemp definition?”
ICYMI — House Repubs fighting to upend hemp industry
Ron Wyden: “I think that our bill — and you’ve run and looked at it?”
ML: “Yeah.”
RW: “…is the most balanced bill to accommodate all the hemp interests.”
ML: “Yeah? Is it important to get that stuff off the shelves? Is this going to do that? Cause there’s still fear it's going to upend the industry.”
RW: “Yeah, what we want to do is have a balanced approach that moves as much product in a safe way, respects the safety concerns of families and that's why we spent all this time on it.”
ML: “Doesn't this really show why we need a regulatory regime for recreational — just for cannabis?”
RW: “We need a regulatory regime, but you gotta have something that is a framework, and that's what our bill is.”
ML: “There you go.”
RW: “Alright.”
ML: “Preciate ya!”
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