“We kind of have to wait and see what the federal government does before we can…advise our licensees.”
By Christopher Shea, Rhode Island Current
On less than an acre of farmland in Hopkinton, rows of hemp plants were nearing harvest. Most of their “colas”—dense clusters of buds prized for smokable flower—had already been cut ahead of a nor’easter bound for southern New England on the last weekend of September.
The rest will be harvested in the next couple of weeks and turned into concentrate, destined to become products such as tinctures, 1-milligram THC gummies and 5-milligram THC lemonades, which Lovewell Farms launched earlier in September.
“We’ve leaned into the cans and beverages because the state regulations allow that,” Mike Simpson, co-founder of Lovewell Farms, said in an interview standing next to the hemp plants, joint in hand. “And we’re making hand over fist doing that.”
Rhode Island’s regulated hemp market generated $2.85 million in sales in 2025, according to data provided by the state’s Cannabis Control Commission. Drinks and seltzers infused with THC—the psychoactive component of the cannabis plant that can cause impairmen—accounted for $2.36 million, or about 83 percent of the total. The state had 201 licensed hemp businesses
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