Dolores Halbin and April Hatch( on right) look out of a hemp materials window frame during a tour of the hemp building projects facility at the Lower Sioux Community. can cause cancer and various illnesses. She also included backyards like those in the KCMO school district, where lead levels are nine times the acceptable limit. Hatch appealed to all companies to conduct health research alongside their building projects and to promote green environments, hemp remediation, and hemp housing to improve overall wellness, especially for children. hemp businesses, which saw their best growth years in 2023 and 2024, are now reeling, wondering how they will survive until 2026.
“ I lost grant-funded projects with Harvard, Cornell, an elementary school, and a secondary school in our area. My two overseas partners, I have worked so hard to establish, will not even try to do business with the United States right now due to tariffs. This has set us back to the dark ages,” sighed Greg Wilson of Hempwood. Wilson drove twelve hours from his Hempwood factory in Kentucky to speak.
“ We’ ll find a way,” he said with resolve.“ But it’ s really been a blow.”
For The Children
Dolores and Butch met Stephen Clarke, a hemp farmer from Mexico during the tour of the Lower Sioux Processing Facility.
We were thrilled to discover that the Cansayapi tribe voted to allocate their casino earnings from this past year to build a completely sustainable, non-toxic elementary school down the road from their decortication facility, and to use the school as a research center for children’ s health. Hatch suggested research projects involving relocating kids to hemp houses. The tribe is searching for researchers to join their hemp school. There was an undeniable sense of serendipity in the air.
What’ s Your Excuse?
I wasn’ t able to have the conversation I wanted with the Europeans. Here in the U. S., the time, energy, money, and investment of tribes across the nation, farmers fighting the USDA, the FDA, federal and state regulations, passing multiple versions of the Farm Bill, breaking through AFFCO, all to reach where we are today, has been monumental.
Whereas in countries like France, hemp was never prohibited.
I wanted to ask why, with the free market and all the time in the world, these countries have allowed the fossil fuel industry and forever plastics to rule and ruin the world.
I had my hand up, but I never got called on.
Back To Reality
In spite of the beauty and magic of the weekend, the reality here in America is that things are tough. Following the cancellation of grants from the Affordable Care Act for renewable resources, many of our
Touring the decortication plant at the Lower Sioux Processing Facility in Morton, MN.( Photo by Dolores Halbin)
Pidamaya, Thank You
We are deeply grateful to the Cansayapi for hosting this amazing gathering of minds and hearts, and for sharing their part of America with us. And in a world that doesn’ t always reflect America in a positive way, I was even more grateful that so many people from around the world were able to go home and say, America is beautiful.
Next month, we will catch up with our local midwestern hemp farmers and see how the harvest fared. In the meantime, shop local and shop hemp.
Learn more about the 13th International Hemp Building Symposium, sponsored by the Lower Sioux Tribe by visiting online at https:// internationalhempbuilding. org.
You can find local hemp treats from Sarah Stephens at Midwest Hemp Tech and Hempy’ s Heart at www. hempyheart. com or www. midwesthemptech. com or contact Greg at Hempwood at sales @ hempwood. com or visit Slap Happy Hemporium on social media, or https:// prairiebandag. com / products-2025.
Dolores Montgomery Halbin, RN, BSN, and Ordained Nurse Minister, resides in SW Missouri. After her husband passed in 2015, she retired from nursing. She worked with the 2014-2018 Missouri campaigns for legalized medical marijuana. She continues as a cannabis reform activist working toward Federal decriminalization through educational speaking and freelance journalism. Doloreshalbin @ gmail. com. November 2025 2025 39