a provision in The federal spending bill, which could end the US government shutdown, would effectively destroy the hemp extract industry by banning intoxicating hemp-based THC products, including gummies and beverages.
The provision, part of a funding bill passed by the U.S. Senate Monday night, would “prohibit the unregulated sale of intoxicating hemp-based or hemp-derived products, including Delta-8, sold online, in gas stations and corner stores,” according to the Senate Appropriations Committee’s summary of the legislation. This bill with a fund of $ 26.65 billion is being voted on in the House of Representatives on Wednesday. If it passes, President Donald Trump is expected to sign it into law.
The hemp provision closes a loophole provided by the 2018 Farm Bill that essentially decriminalized intoxicating hemp-based products. Those products include cannabinoids like delta-8 and THCA, which are found in a variety of foods and beverages. However, the Farm Bill states that hemp products cannot contain more than 0.3 percent delta-9 THC by dry weight; Delta-9 is the main psychoactive compound in cannabis, which is federally illegal. Both hemp and marijuana come from the Cannabis Sativa plant, but hemp has much lower levels of delta-9.
Kentucky Senator Rand Paul was the only Republican to vote against the spending bill on Monday, as he failed to amend the bill by banning cannabis. In September dozens of Kentucky hemp farmers sent a letter to fellow state senator Mitch McConnell, who was pushing for the ban, urging him to reconsider.
The letter stated that the hemp-derived cannabinoid market “gave us—for the first time in decades—a new crop with real economic opportunity” and that a ban would result in “immediate and devastating consequences.”
According to a report from Cannabis Business Times, sales of hemp-derived cannabinoids are set to exceed $2.7 billion in 2023.
“This will ultimately devastate the industry and devastate hemp farmers,” says lawyer and hemp advocate Jonathan Miller, adding that it would “wipe out” 95 percent of hemp ingestibles.
While the provision says it would protect “non-intoxicating CBD and industrial hemp products,” Miller disputes this, noting that the most popular hemp-derived CBD products still exceed the proposed limit of 0.4 milligrams of THC per container. CBD products don’t get people high, but are popular and used for things like insomnia and anxiety, although research on their efficacy is still limited.