Keep Moon Flower Blooming

Neighbors Standing with Moon Flower

To: Sen. Shelley Moore Capito · Sen. Jim Justice · Rep. Riley Moore

We, the undersigned neighbors of Buckhannon and Upshur County, West Virginia, ask our members of Congress to fix the hemp provision in Section 781 of the November 2025 federal funding law before it takes effect on December 11, 2026, and to replace a ban that would close Moon Flower, a woman-owned hemp farm and store at 46 E. Main Street, and small West Virginia hemp businesses like it, with clear and enforceable rules.

Why it matters

• Moon Flower is a family business: a hemp farm grown in Upshur County since 2019 and a storefront on downtown Main Street since 2023. It is local jobs, a local farm and a lit-up window on the street we all share.
• Section 781 redefines hemp so that a finished product may hold no more than 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container. That makes most hemp products that contain THC, including delta-9, delta-10 and THCA, illegal under federal law, and it can reach everyday non-intoxicating products too, such as full-spectrum CBD oils, lotions and pet treats.
• The provision rode in on a must-pass spending bill, with little public debate for a change this large, and it leaves small farms and shops only months to wind down.
• West Virginia already acted on its own. Since 2023 (SB 220), state law has limited these products to adults 21 and over and set rules for labeling, testing and a retail tax.
• A ban does not end demand. It moves sales away from licensed, tax-paying local stores that check IDs and toward unregulated sellers that don't.

What we ask

1. Delay the deadline. Push back the December 11, 2026 effective date so Congress can write workable rules before anything is banned.
2. Regulate, don't eliminate. Set federal standards instead: sales only to adults 21 and over, independent lab testing for potency and contaminants, clear labels, child-resistant packaging, no marketing to children, and real enforcement against bad actors.
3. Protect non-intoxicating products. Replace the 0.4 mg per-container cap with a standard that does not sweep in CBD oils, lotions, pet products and other goods no one uses to get high.
4. Respect West Virginia's own rules. Leave room for the age limits, labeling and testing our state already enforces.
5. Hear from small businesses. Meet with Moon Flower and other West Virginia hemp farmers and shop owners before the deadline.

We are Moon Flower's neighbors, customers and friends. Please act before December 11, 2026. Keep Moon Flower blooming: regulate, don't eliminate.

📬 Every name is delivered to all three offices on December 1, 2026, ten days before the deadline.