Hemp fight trips up spending bill

News Hemp fight trips up spending bill Comments: by Joseph Choi and Nathaniel Weixel - 08/05/26 7:27 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Joseph Choi and Nathaniel Weixel - 08/05/26 7:27 PM ET Comments: Link copied

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GOP hemp fight delays spending bill

An internal GOP fight over intoxicating hemp products is slowing up passage of a government funding bill.

Amy Beth Bennett, South Florida Sun Sentinel, Tribune News Service via Getty Images

The Senate’s government funding bill set to be considered this week would delay the upcoming prohibition on most hemp-derived THC products by a month, until Dec. 11.

The provision was included at the behest of the White House, which took some senators by surprise. Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) and a handful of other Republicans objected to the delay and are holding up the process, demanding a vote on an amendment to strip it out of the bill. They are concerned about children’s easy access to hemp-derived THC products. However, the administration wants the delay and has been telegraphing its position for months. President Trump posted on Truth Social in April that he was “calling on Congress to update the Law to ensure that Americans can continue to access the full-spectrum CBD products they have come to rely on, and that help them, while preserving Congress’s intent to restrict the sale of products that pose Health risks.” When the House was considering the Agriculture, Rural Development and FDA package in June, the Office of Management and Budget said it “welcomes the opportunity to work with the Congress to, at a minimum, update the statutory definition of final hemp-derived cannabinoid products to allow Americans to benefit from access to appropriate full-spectrum CBD products while preserving the Congress’s intent to restrict the sale of products that pose serious health risks.” At the time, lawmakers rejected a trio of hemp-related amendments that had aimed to either delay the ban by two years, halt the ban altogether, or replace the ban with a taxed and regulated system. The issue in question concerns a law passed late last year that redefined hemp to close what critics called the “hemp loophole.” The 2018 Farm Bill removed hemp from the controlled substances list. But the law’s broad definition and subsequent lack of federal regulation created a loophole that allowed companies to extract and synthesize high levels of THC, the psychoactive compound in marijuana responsible for a high. Those cannabinoid products, including gummies and drinks, have exploded in popularity and are now sold beyond dispensaries, expanding to gas stations, convenience stores and even major retailers such as Target. Many can give people a marijuana-like high without being considered marijuana. They are sold without consistent age restrictions or labeling regulations and oftentimes resemble candy. The new definition limits legal hemp products to 0.4 milligrams per container of total THC, or any other cannabinoids with similar effects. The policy was set to take effect Nov. 12, so the practical impact would push the effective date by a month. However, cannabinoids that are synthesized and “are not capable of being naturally produced by a Cannabis sativa L. plant” would still be banned on the original timeline. This likely includes illicit products from China.

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