The End Of Hemp as We Know It?

Hooray, possibly, the federal government's shutdown is ending. The Senate voted to do so on Monday, and the House of Representatives voted yesterday. President Trump quickly signed into law an appropriations bill that restarts government. The bill had a lot of things in it, including a fix to the Farm Act of 2018, which legalized hemp. Here is the part related to Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agency Appropriations:

AGFY 2026.pdf

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The new rules for hemp products kick in on page 107 out of 141. The word "hemp" is included 22 times. The Farm Act of 2018 did a poor job in many ways of laying out the rules and definitions. This new law, which kicks in a year from now, discusses "hemp-derived cannabinoid products" and outlaws synthetics and any product with more than 0.4 milligrams of THC or any cannabinoids with similar effects.

Plenty of people are upset about this, including me, as PROHIBITION MAKES NO SENSE. I have been arguing here regularly that the federal government made a mistake in how it legalized hemp in terms of not defining things properly. Worse, the federal government did not regulate the market at all by product or by seller. I have warned that not only states but also the federal government would potentially move to inhibit the hemp cannabinoid market.

Some state-regulated cannabis companies are likely very happy, and some are saddened too. Everyone needs to understand that these new rules don't begin for another year, and a lot could change. It disappoints me that this wasn't really debated by Congress but has been signed into law.

There are a lot of companies selling THC beverages, and there are other hemp-derived products being sold, and this potential prohibition will cause some problems for those that make or sell these products.