WASHINGTON – Major changes to the federal hemp industry have been delayed by one month.
President Donald Trump signed a federal spending bill this month that moves the effective date of new federal restrictions on hemp-derived THC products from Nov. 12 to Dec. 11, 2026. The delay gives Congress additional time to consider how intoxicating hemp products should be regulated.
The restrictions were included in a federal funding bill Congress passed last year. They were designed to close what lawmakers have described as a loophole in the 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized industrial hemp. The law defined hemp based on a limit of 0.3% delta-9 THC but did not fully address newer intoxicating cannabinoids and products derived from hemp.
The new federal law changes the definition of hemp to include a total THC limit, rather than only measuring delta-9 THC. It also establishes a limit of 0.4 milligrams of total THC per final hemp-derived consumer product.
The restrictions also exclude certain cannabinoids that are synthesized or manufactured outside the cannabis plant, as well as cannabinoids that cannot naturally occur in the plant.
The changes could significantly affect the hemp-derived THC market because many products currently sold under the federal definition of hemp would no longer qualify as hemp once the restrictions take effect.
Some states, including South Dakota, have already adopted their own restrictions on certain hemp-derived products.
The Senate voted 61-32 in August to table an amendment from Republican Sen. Ted Budd of North Carolina that would have prevented the delay and kept the original Nov. 12 effective date.
“I am disappointed that the Senate chose to protect an industry that insists on selling dangerous intoxicants marketed toward children by delaying the hemp loophole,” Budd wrote on social media following the vote.
Senators who supported the delay said an immediate change could hurt farmers and small businesses that have built businesses around hemp products and already follow state regulations.
Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who supported the delay, said the additional time allows Congress to develop a federal regulatory framework.
“A federal hemp ban would wipe out thousands of Minnesota jobs. Our farmers and small businesses are already following strong safety rules — a one-size-fits-all federal ban ignores that. This buys us time, and I’m not done fighting,” Klobuchar wrote on X.
The new law gives Congress until Dec. 11 to determine whether additional changes will be made before the new federal hemp restrictions take effect.
