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What Didn't Change
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By Jeremy Amos
Published: Monday, Dec 22, 2025
The hemp industry changed a lot this year.
Regulations shifted. Markets contracted. Companies pivoted or closed. The landscape at the end of 2025 looks different than it did at the beginning.
Everyone's talking about what changed. And they should. Change matters. You have to adapt to it.
But I've been thinking about what didn't change.
Because the constants are more important than the variables.
Title
The Plant Didn't Change
Hemp is still hemp. Cannabis is still cannabis.
The plant still produces cannabinoids through the same biosynthetic pathways it always has. CBD still forms from CBDA. THC still converts to CBN when exposed to oxygen and heat. The terpenes still develop based on genetics and growing conditions.
The chemistry didn't change because regulations changed.
The plant doesn't care about the Farm Bill. It doesn't care about state laws or federal interpretations or market dynamics.
It grows. It produces cannabinoids. It responds to its environment the same way it did last year and the year before and a hundred years before that.
That didn't change.
And that matters because it means the fundamentals of what we do - growing, extracting, refining, testing - those don't change either.
The business model might shift. The market might contract. But extracting cannabinoids from plant material? That's still chemistry. And chemistry doesn't change because the regulatory environment does.
Title
Quality Didn't Become Optional
This year tested a lot of companies.
When revenue drops, when customers disappear, when the market contracts - that's when you find out what's actually non-negotiable and what was just convenient when things were easy.
Some companies loosened their standards. Started accepting batches they would have rejected before. Skipped tests they used to run. Cut corners that seemed harmless.
But quality didn't become optional. It just became more expensive to maintain.
And the companies that understood that - that quality is either a standard or it's not, regardless of market conditions - those are the companies still standing.
The ones who thought quality was something you could dial back when times got hard? They're learning that customers don't come back after you've compromised what made them trust you in the first place.
Quality standards didn't change. But who was willing to maintain them did.
Title
Physics Didn't Negotiate
Extraction still requires the right solvent, the right temperature, the right pressure.
Distillation still requires the right boiling points and the right vacuum levels.
Chromatography still requires the right media and the right flow rates.
None of that became easier because the market got harder.
You can't extract cannabinoids faster by wanting to move faster. You can't skip winterization because you need to hit a deadline. You can't rush distillation because a customer is waiting.
The physics of processing hemp didn't change. The temptation to pretend otherwise did. And the manufacturers who understood that - that you can't negotiate with thermodynamics - they're the ones producing consistent products.
The ones who tried to rush chemistry? Their COAs tell the story.
Title
Testing Didn't Get Less Important
When margins tightened, it was easy to ask: "Do we really need to test every batch?" "Do we really need the full panel?" "Can we use representative testing instead of testing each one individually?"
The answer didn't change: Yes. Yes. No.
Testing didn't become less important because it became more expensive. If anything, it became more important.
When you're operating with smaller margins, you can't afford to ship contaminated product. You can't afford customer complaints. You can't afford to compromise your reputation.
Testing is expensive. Shipping bad product is more expensive. That math didn't change.
The manufacturers who understood that are still testing every batch. The ones who thought testing was negotiable are dealing with consequences.
Title
What "Help" Means Didn't Change
The hemp industry exists because the plant helps people.
Not because of regulatory arbitrage. Not because of marketing angles. Not because of clever product positioning. Because cannabinoids interact with the endocannabinoid system in ways that provide relief, support, benefit.
That's why any of this matters. And that didn't change.
When the market contracted, when revenues dropped, when companies started scrambling - what "help" means didn't shift. Help still means making products that actually work. That are safe. That are consistent. That do what they're supposed to do.
It doesn't mean making products that are just legally compliant. Or just cheap enough to compete. Or just good enough to ship.
It means making products that help people. That's the standard. That didn't change.
Some companies forgot that this year. Or decided it was too expensive to maintain. Or convinced themselves that "good enough" was acceptable.
But the standard didn't move. The companies moved away from it.
Title
The Difference Between Hard and Impossible
This year was hard.
The market contracted. Regulations shifted. Revenue dropped. Customers disappeared. But nothing became impossible.
The plant still produces cannabinoids. Quality can still be maintained. Physics still works. Testing still reveals contamination. Products can still help people.
None of that became impossible. It just became harder.
Hard means it requires more work, more discipline, more commitment. Impossible means the fundamentals won't allow it. And the companies that understood the difference—between hard and impossible—they kept doing the work.
The ones who confused hard with impossible gave up or compromised.
Title
What We're Carrying Forward
This year changed a lot. But what matters most didn't change.
- The plant still works. Hemp still produces cannabinoids with therapeutic potential.
- Quality is still non-negotiable. You can't build something lasting on compromised standards.
- Physics still applies. You can't rush chemistry or negotiate with thermodynamics.
- Testing still matters. Consistent quality requires consistent verification.
- Help still means help. Products either work for people or they don't.
Those things didn't change. They won't change next year either. The market will keep shifting. Regulations will keep evolving. The landscape will keep transforming.
But the fundamentals? Those are constant.
And the companies that remember that—that build on constants instead of chasing variables—those are the companies that last.
Title
The Constants Are the Foundation
In architecture, there's a principle: you build on bedrock, not on shifting ground. You can build a beautiful structure on sand. But when conditions change—when storms come, when ground shifts—the structure fails.
The constants are the bedrock.
The plant. Quality. Physics. Testing. Actually helping people.
Those don't shift when market conditions change. They don't erode when revenue drops. They don't compromise when competition increases.
They're what you build on. What you return to when everything else is uncertain.
This year taught us what happens when companies build on variables—on regulatory loopholes, on marketing hype, on corners they could cut when times were good.
When conditions changed, those structures failed. The companies that built on constants are still standing.
Title
Road Ahead
As we head into 2026, everything might keep changing. The market. The regulations. The competitive landscape. The customer base.
But what matters most won't change.
The plant will still produce cannabinoids. Quality will still be non-negotiable. Physics will still apply. Testing will still matter. Help will still mean help.
Those are the constants we're building on. Not because they're easy. But because they're true. And truth doesn't change when conditions do.
Looking ahead to 2026? Build on constants, not variables. The fundamentals of quality, chemistry, and actually helping people don't change—even when everything else does.
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