Republicans in the Alabama Legislature must be feeling proud today. Not only have they managed to shutter countless small businesses and cost the state thousands of jobs, but they’ve finally gotten their trophy: a woman in Athens charged for possessing smokable hemp products under the state’s new anti-hemp law. It’s the first arrest under this absurd statute, and you can practically hear the high-fives echoing through the halls of the Statehouse.
This is what they wanted. A law built on panic, misinformation and moral grandstanding now has its first scalp. Next up? A veteran with PTSD who uses CBD to sleep. Then maybe a mom battling anxiety. And don’t forget the arthritic family dog who was finally able to get up the stairs again.
All in the name of “protecting the children.”
Let’s be honest—House Bill 445 was never about protecting anyone. It was about control. It was about giving politicians like Representative Andy Whitt something to wave around during the next election cycle so they can say, “Look what I did. I banned the scary plant stuff.” Never mind that this so-called dangerous product was made legal by the very same Legislature not long ago.
So, which is it, gentlemen? Is hemp a promising agricultural commodity and therapeutic tool? Or is it the new boogeyman of the Bible Belt?
Here’s the truth: these products weren’t some kind of legal loophole. They were lab-tested, regulated, taxed and sold over the counter. Consumers knew what they were getting. Business owners followed the law. And patients—yes, real people with real conditions—found some relief.
Now, with the stroke of a pen and a wave of anti-science hysteria, thousands of Alabamians have been turned into criminals.
What happened in Athens isn’t justice. It’s a warning shot.
It’s the sound of a government more interested in punishment than policy. And while the Legislature pats itself on the back, what they’ve really done is sow confusion, fear and economic collapse. Law enforcement officers have publicly said they didn’t ask for this law. But in a political climate where outrage wins more votes than logic, reason never stood a chance.
Let’s call HB445 what it is: a moral panic in search of a victim. And now it has one.
This moment feels eerily familiar because we’ve been here before. Nearly a century ago, this country outlawed alcohol in a burst of moral fervor. It was supposed to protect the public, uphold values and curb addiction. Instead, it created an unregulated black market, empowered criminal syndicates, and turned ordinary Americans into lawbreakers. That dark chapter, known as Prohibition, is now widely considered one of the most disastrous policy experiments in American history.
And yet, here we go again—only this time, it’s not moonshine in a mason jar, it’s a hemp pre-roll in a legal bag, sold by someone who paid their taxes and followed the rules.
Are you proud of yourself today, Mr. Whitt?
Do you feel victorious knowing that your crusade just tore apart the life of a woman who, just weeks ago, was in full compliance with state law? Maybe you and your colleagues can frame her mugshot and hang it on the wall next to the latest jobs report showing hundreds of Alabamians now unemployed because of your short-sighted, politically motivated legislation.
This is the price of performative politics.
We could have regulated. We could have crafted reasonable guardrails. We could have listened to doctors, veterans, farmers and law enforcement. Instead, we criminalized relief, gutted an emerging industry, and once again made Alabama a punchline.
One woman arrested. Thousands of livelihoods destroyed. And not a single child is demonstrably safer than they were before. But the culture warriors in Montgomery get to declare victory, and that’s all that seems to matter.
What happens when the next arrest is a cancer patient? Or a grandmother managing chronic arthritis? Or a veteran who uses legal, non-psychoactive hemp to keep nightmares at bay?
Will they be your trophies, too?
HB445 is more than just bad policy—it’s a betrayal of the people lawmakers claim to serve. If there’s any justice left in this state, it won’t be measured in arrests, but in accountability.
Because no matter how many lives you disrupt, no matter how many headlines you chase, one thing is clear: you don’t get to call it freedom if all you’re doing is taking it away.
