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- On November 12, 2025, the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act was signed, as part of the reopening the federal government. In addition to a $26 billion spending package, language was included in the bill that would severely limit hemp products, essentially undoing the hemp industry framework established under the 2018 Farm Bill.
- The Act revises the “hemp” definition to limit the material to “a total tetrahydrocannabinols [THC] concentration (including tetrahydrocannabinolic acid) of not more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis” (no longer focusing on just the delta-9 THC level).
- The Act also prohibits final hemp-derived cannabinoid products from containing the following: (1) cannabinoids that are not capable of being naturally produced by a cannabis plant; (2) cannabinoids that are capable of being naturally produced by a cannabis plant and are synthesized or manufactured outside the plant; and (3) more than 0.4 milligrams combined total per container of (a) total THCs (including tetrahydrocannabinolic acid) and (b) “any other cannabinoids that have similar effects (or are marketed to have similar effects) on humans or animals as a tetrahydrocannabinol.”
- The revisions are expected to drastically limit (if not effectively eliminate) the availability of hemp-derived cannabinoid products (including those containing cannabidiol (CBD)) given the new “hemp” criteria.
- Within 90 days of enactment, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is to work with other agencies to publish a list of: (1) all cannabinoids known to be capable of being naturally produced by a Cannabis sativa L. plant; (2) all THC class cannabinoids known to be naturally occurring the plant; and (3) all other known cannabinoids with similar effects to, or marketed to have similar effects to, THC class cannabinoids.
- These provisions are scheduled to take effect on November 12, 2026, at which point many currently-permitted products would become prohibited controlled substances. The cannabis products industry has a limited window in which to pursue a new legislative framework.
