In March 2023, during a virtual meeting convened by Colorado Leads, a trade group for the marijuana industry, officials from Colorado's Marijuana Enforcement Division discussed significant concerns regarding illegal hemp sales. These sales, they asserted, posed a serious threat to the state's legal recreational marijuana market, which was established following the legalization of marijuana in 2012. According to Kyle Lambert, the agency's deputy senior director, the presence of hemp-derived products in the market has become alarmingly common and is larger than regulators can quantify. He emphasized that the issues linked to these products, including pricing and quality concerns, were more pervasive than anyone could imagine, suggesting the extent of suspicious transactions would shock those involved in the market. As a result, they announced a crackdown on companies selling hemp products as marijuana and indicated plans for emergency regulations to establish stricter compliance standards. The regulators highlighted that the issues surrounding hemp-derived products stem from changes in federal law. When Congress legalized hemp in 2018, akin to marijuana but with minimal THC levels, it allowed manufacturers to produce and export hemp-based products. Consequently, some companies have opted to use hemp due to its lower cost as a substitute for marijuana, which has led to widespread substitution and fraud. The potential of these practices undercuts the integrity of the state’s