Here's your Forbes Daily Briefing for Tuesday, February 17th. Today on Forbes, why THC drinks are coming to a sports arena despite a looming federal hemp ban. Beginning earlier this month, THC-infused drinks are now on sale at Chicago's United Center, thanks to Illinois cannabis mogul Ben

Kovaler. The arena has become the first venue of its size in the country to sell hemp-derived

beverages at concerts and other live events, but not at Chicago Bulls or Blackhawks games.

With the announcement about the United Center in late January,

Kovler, the 46-year-old CEO and founder of Chicago-based Green Thumb Industries, or GTI,

a $1.1 billion in 2024 sales cannabis company with about 105 dispensaries across 14 states,

is going against much of the cannabis world,

as the $28 billion hemp industry is facing an existential crisis at the end of the year.

Last November, President Trump signed the bill to reopen the government after the longest shutdown

in U.S. history, but it included a provision that

effectively bans the sale of hemp-derived THC products, including infused beverages, edibles,

and other intoxicating products. But as the chairman and interim CEO of the NASDAQ listed

Rhythm Inc., which generated $6.6 million in revenue from January 2025

through September 2025, and licenses GTI's brands to manufacture hemp-derived THC drinks,

Senorita and Rhythm, Kovaler sees an opportunity while others are bracing for extinction.

He tells Forbes, quote, there's always risk with

stroke of the pen policy, bans and things like that. We see that as kind of a given. That's just part

of the deal, regulatory changes. For now, if the federal hemp ban is not struck down before

November of this year, delayed or replaced

with regulations, Rhythm Inc's business, and most of the businesses in the $28 billion hemp industry,

will go up in smoke. But Kovler says Rhythm will pivot, just as GTI has had to adapt to new state

laws and regulations across the 14 states it operates in.

...