A new federal law passed by Congress and awaiting President Donald Trump’s signature would recriminalize some hemp products in the United States and drastically limit the country’s burgeoning hemp industry.
The Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Extensions Act, 2026 (2026 Extensions Act) passed Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025. Among other things, it restricts what qualifies as federally legalized hemp.
Federally legalized hemp is currently regulated under the 2018 Farm Bill, which delineates legal vs. illegal hemp based on the concentration of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (delta-9 THC). If a cannabis product contains no more than .3% delta-9 THC on a dry weight basis, it is classified federally as legal hemp. When enacted, the Farm Bill did not address the legal status of products that contain other THC strains (such as delta-8 THC or delta-10 THC). As such, some currently legal products have a higher than .3% THC concentration when viewed collectively.
The 2026 Extensions Act addresses this scenario by replacing the definition of legalized hemp. In doing so, the law prohibits products that contain more than a total of “0.4 milligrams combined total per container of total [THC]” (including tetrahydrocannabinolic acid) and “any other cannabinoids that have similar effects (or are marketed to have similar effects) on humans or animals as a [THC].” See H.R. 5371 SEC. 781(2). The revised language effectively recriminalizes products that exceed the .4 milligram limit or are cannabinoids that are synthesized from otherwise federally legal hemp, drastically reducing the market of federally legal hemp products.
The 2026 Extensions Act is the latest in a string of regulations and cases over the last two years intended to restrict the scope of the legal sale of hemp products and to tighten enforcement in this area.
The change will not go into effect for one year. The hemp industry is expected to try to get Congress to revisit this restriction prior to it becoming effective.
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