Federal Ban on Intoxicating Hemp Products: What It Means for the Hemp Industry
On November 12, 2025, President Trump signed legislation to end the government shutdown that includes a federal ban on most hemp products that contain THC and other hemp-derived “cannabinoids.” The new law goes into effect a year from now.
If it goes into effect as it is currently written, it will dramatically impact the multibillion-dollar hemp industry across the nation, including in states like Georgia that have already passed comprehensive legislation to regulate hemp products containing CBD, THC, and lesser-known cannabinoids like Delta-8-THC, HHC, and THCP. In effect, the law will ban most of the consumable hemp products currently on the market.
The new law does this by changing the federal definition of “hemp” to exclude most products containing THC and other hemp-derived cannabinoids that have become popular since Congress legalized hemp in the 2018 Federal Farm Bill. Supporters of the ban have stated that they intend to close a “loophole” in the Farm Bill that unintentionally allowed the sale and manufacture of intoxicating hemp products that are no different than illegal marijuana.
President Trump has previously expressed support for hemp products in the past, but he indicated prior to passage of the bill that he “supports the current language in the bill on hemp.” He ultimately signed the bill without commenting on the hemp provisions.
While some legislators have vowed to propose additional legislation to reverse some of these changes and replace the bans with regulations over the next year, hemp businesses and other stakeholders should familiarize themselves with the bill, explained in detail below, and be prepared to comply with its new regulations and prohibitions.
Current Hemp Laws Under the 2018 Farm Bill
In 2018, President Trump signed the 2018 Federal Farm Bill into law, landmark legislation that legalized a wide range of cannabis and cannabis products by excluding “hemp” from the definition of “marijuana” and “THC,” both of which remain controlled substances under federal law.
Under the Farm Bill, “hemp” was broadly defined to include any cannabis plant, and any part of the plant, derivative, extract, or cannabinoid from the plant, that contains 0.3% or less of “Delta-9-THC,” the cannabinoid most commonly known for giving users a “high.”
The cannabis plant naturally produces over a hundred cannabinoids, including non-intoxicating cannabinoids like CBD and CBG as well as intoxicating cannabinoids like Delta-8-THC, HHC, THCA, and THCV. Marijuana and hemp have the same cannabinoids but produce them in different quantities. Hemp produces more CBD; marijuana produces more THC.
All of these cannabinoids can be extracted from either plant. When it comes to hemp-derived cannabinoids, CBD is extracted from the hemp plant directly and processed into a concentrated form. Hemp-derived CBD can then be synthesized into Delta-8-THC, HHC, THCV, and other “minor cannabinoids” through a series of chemical conversions.
The Farm Bill’s broad language legalized the sale and possession of a variety of cannabis products containing hemp-derived cannabinoids, including vapes, edibles, flower, oils, wax, and other products resembling illegal marijuana and THC products, as long as the total cannabinoid content was less than 0.3% Delta-9-THC. Most states, including Georgia, enacted their own legislation to legalize hemp and regulate the various kinds of hemp products on the market.
The New Law Effectively Bans Most Hemp Products Currently on the Market
As it currently stands, the new law will effectively ban most hemp products currently on the market by changing the federal definition of “hemp.” The new definition of “hemp” will exclude certain categories of hemp products, such as those containing synthetic cannabinoids or more than trace amounts of THC and other intoxicating cannabinoids.
If they are excluded from the definition of “hemp,” these hemp products will be treated as controlled substances under federal law going forward, meaning that the sale and possession of these products will be a federal crime.
The new law makes three main changes that, taken together, would ban most hemp products on the market:
1. The new law effectively bans all THCA products by changing the legal THC limit so that all hemp products must contain 0.3% or less of both Delta-9-THC and THCA combined.
Under the new law, “hemp” has been redefined as “the plant Cannabis sativa L. and any part of that plant, including the seeds thereof and all derivatives, extracts, cannabinoids, isomers, acids, salts, and salts of isomers, whether growing or not, with a total tetrahydrocannabinols concentration (including tetrahydrocannabinolic acid [THCA]) of not more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis.”
In other words, the legal THC limit has changed from 0.3% delta-9-THC to 0.3% “Total THC,” which accounts for the amounts of both Delta-9-THC and THCA in a product. This change alone will eliminate almost all THCA products from the market once the new law goes into effect, since the vast majority contain well over 0.3% THCA.
One popular product that will be prohibited once the new law goes into effect, for example, is “THCA flower” that contains high levels of THCA and under 0.3% delta-9-THC. Notably, THCA turns into delta-9-THC over time or when exposed to heat.
The definition of “hemp” under the 2018 Farm Bill excluded THCA from the THC limit that distinguished hemp from marijuana. That led to confusion in the industry and among law enforcement officials whose testing methods cannot distinguish delta-9-THC from THCA. That confusion led to raids and arrests of hemp business owners who were selling legal products. It remains to be seen whether the new law will solve that problem.
2. The new law prohibits consumable products containing “hemp-derived cannabinoids” that were “synthesized or manufactured outside the plant.”
In addition to the effective ban on THCA products, the new law effectively bans another category of hemp products by changing the definition of “hemp” to exclude “hemp-derived cannabinoid products” that contain cannabinoids that were “synthesized or manufactured outside the plant.” The law also excludes “intermediate hemp-derived cannabinoid products,” such as oils, distillates, and isolates that are “marketed or sold as a final product or directly to an end consumer for personal or household use.”
As noted above, most hemp-derived cannabinoids must be extracted from cannabis through a series of chemical conversions. In most cases, that starts with extracting CBD from the hemp plant, and then converting the CBD to other minor cannabinoids like Delta-8-THC, HHC, THCV, and others. This generally requires lab equipment.
By using broad language banning any hemp-derived cannabinoid that was “synthesized or manufactured outside the plant,” the new law will effectively ban all vapes, edibles, oils, flower, and other products containing these hemp-derived cannabinoids.
3. The new law prohibits any product containing more than 0.4 milligrams of THC, THCA, and any other cannabinoid that produces “similar effects.”
Finally, as a sort of “catch-all” to ban any other hemp products that are potentially intoxicating, the new law redefines “hemp” to exclude any hemp products that contain more than 0.4 milligrams per container of combined THC, THCA, or any other cannabinoids that produce “similar effects” per container.
The Department of Health and Human Services will determine what other cannabinoids create “similar effects” to THC. Either way, however, such a low milligram limit will effectively ban the vast majority of hemp products containing any form of THC. In fact, the milligram limit may also apply to full-spectrum CBD that is non-intoxicating but contains naturally occurring amounts of THC.
What the Hemp Ban Means for the Hemp Industry
If the new law goes into effect a year from now as it is currently written, any cannabis product that no longer qualifies as ‘hemp’ will be considered illegal marijuana or THC under the federal Controlled Substances Act. The narrower definition of “hemp” under the new law will effectively ban most hemp products currently on the market, even potentially non-intoxicating products like CBD and other hemp-derived cannabinoids.
Hemp products like vapes, drinks, edibles, and pre-rolls containing Delta-8-THC, HHC, THCP, and other minor cannabinoids extracted from hemp will lose their classification as legal hemp products and become controlled substances, even in states like Georgia where such products are legal and regulated. THCA products like THCA flower, while already prohibited in Georgia, will become illegal controlled substances nationwide.
These changes will gut the hemp industry as we know it. According to one representative, “the hemp industry supports 320,000 American jobs, generates $28.4 billion in regulated market activity, and produces some $1.5 billion in state tax revenue.” The U.S. Hemp Roundtable said that this proposal would wipe out 95% of the U.S. hemp industry. The new law will affect farmers, manufacturers, retailers, and consumers—every stakeholder in the hemp industry.
As noted, the new law provides a 365-day grace period before it goes into effect. Accordingly, hemp businesses have a year to review these new changes and restrictions and comply with them or challenge them in court.
Can the hemp ban be challenged in court?
Even if the hemp ban goes into effect as written, the hemp industry can and should fight back by challenging the law in court. While the federal government has discretion to regulate and prohibit certain kinds of hemp products, it must do so clearly and provide affected stakeholders and businesses with due process.
One potential challenge to the new law, for example, could be brought against any efforts by the government to ban hemp-derived Delta-8-THC as “synthesized or manufactured outside the plant.” Most chemical processes involving the manufacturing of Delta-8-THC are “semi-synthetic,” not synthetic, and Delta-8-THC can be extracted from hemp. Accordingly, certain Delta-8 products may not fall under this ban.
Additionally, the government’s attempt to prohibit products containing THC, THCA, and “any other cannabinoids that have similar effects,” as determined by HHS, can be attacked based on the unconstitutionally vague language that fails to provide lawful hemp businesses with sufficient notice of what cannabinoids are or are not allowed. There is also an argument that this language is unlawful under the “non-delegation” doctrine, under which Congress cannot delegate major questions to agencies like HHS.
Additional legal challenges may be available based on how federal agencies like the FDA and HHS interpret some of these new definitions. Agencies must comply with certain procedural and legal requirements before implementing new rules, and those rules must be consistent with their authorizing statute.
In short, there may be several challenges that the hemp industry can raise even before the new law goes into effect. However, the federal government will push back hard, and it is important that any effort to strike down this new law be led by experienced advocates well-versed in legal and scientific issues involving hemp.
Contact Our Federal Hemp Attorneys
Are you a hemp retailer or producer concerned about the new federal hemp ban? Our firm also stands ready to bring legal challenges to this new law, and we have a proven track record of obtaining injunctions and other relief against government officials targeting lawful hemp businesses.
