Lawmakers in both chambers of Congress are now fighting to keep intoxicating hemp products legal until November 2028 in the name of allowing farmers time to prepare.
U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., introduced legislation on Jan. 15 that aims to delay the forthcoming federal prohibition by two years from its current effective date of Nov. 13, 2026.
The legislation, the “Hemp Planting Predictability Act,” mirrors what a bipartisan group of five House members introduced on Jan. 12, which intends to amend a continuing resolution that President Donald Trump signed into law in December to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
Attached to that resolution was a provision to prevent intoxicating hemp products from “being sold online, in gas stations and corner stores” by outlawing products containing more than 0.3% total THC or 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container. The provision will also prohibit consumable hemp products from containing cannabinoids that are synthesized outside the plant (i.e., delta-8 THC) or that are not capable of being naturally produced (i.e., HHC).
Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., spearheaded the hemp product prohibition language as a means to end a “loophole” in the 2018 Farm Bill that led to the proliferation of these products nationwide.
“As many states have stepped in to curb these dangerous products from reaching consumers, particularly children, it’s time for Congress to act to close this loophole while protecting the industrial hemp industry,” Harris said in June, when the House Appropriations Committee approved similar language to the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Related Agencies appropriations bill.
After Trump signed what many industry stakeholders view as a hemp-killing provision in the FDA funding package, lawmakers in both parties and in both chambers are now attempting to right the timeline for farmers.
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