The GOP-led House Committee has released a bill that includes provisions hemp industry stakeholders claim would destroy the industry. It prohibits most cannabinoid consumable products which were federally legalized under the first Trump Administration.
Just one day prior to a planned Thursday marking up, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies has published the bill text covering the fiscal year of 2026.
The bill is 138 pages long and covers several issues. However, for the hemp industry there’s one part that should be of special concern. That section would redefine hemp as hemp under federal law, which would make it illegal to sell cannabis products that contain any amount of THC.
Even non-intoxicating hemp CBD products sold in the US contain trace levels of THC. These products can be sold under current laws if the THC content is less than 0.3 per cent by weight.
The proposed policy, which is being considered by Andy Harris’ (R-MD), a marijuana-hating member of the House Subcommittee, would change this in a big way. The proposed policy would maintain “industrial hemp’s” legal status under a new definition, which allows the sale and cultivation of hemp for products such as fiber, oil, whole grain or hull, cake, nuts, microgreens, or other edible hemp leaves intended for human consumption.
A press release from Harris’s committee says the legislation “supports the Trump Administration and mandate of the American people by…closing the hemp loophole that has resulted in the proliferation of unregulated intoxicating hemp products, including Delta-8 and hemp flower, being sold online and in gas stations across the country.”
Smart Approaches to Marijuana, a prohibitionist group, applauded this move.
In a post on social media, the group stated that “this is a big win for kids, families and public health.”
The language of the hemp legislation is similar to that found in appropriations bills and agricultural legislation introduced but never enacted by Congress.
Hemp stakeholders protested this proposal which had also been included in last year’s base bill. This provision is almost identical to one that was included in the Farm Bill 2024 by another committee via an amendment submitted by Rep. Mary Miller, R-IL. That proposal was not passed into law.
The new version of the spending bill for 2026 has some changes, such as a change in what is considered a “quantifiable amount” of THC for hemp products.
The new definition of a quantitative amount states that it is “based upon substance, form or manufacture (as determined in consultation by the Secretary for Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Agriculture),”. Previously, the amount was simply defined as “determined in consultation by the secretary in consultation to the Secretary for Health and Human Services.”
In the new proposed legislation, it is also specified that “a drug which has been approved by the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act under subparagraph (c), or (j), of Section 505 (21 U.S.C. The proposed legislation also specifies that the term hemp does not include “a drug which has been approved under subsection (c) or (j) of section 505 of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (2 U.S.C.
Jonathan Miller of the U.S. Hemp Roundtable told MEDCAN24 that despite some changes, the bill “will have the same effect” which is to ban the majority of hemp-based products from the marketplace, he said on Wednesday.
Miller stated that stakeholders were generally sceptical about the prospects of the current appropriations bill advancing, given the unrelated controversy over different provisions. However, they still believed that this was “a dire situation, as it would have such devastating effects on the farmers and consumers who take these products at face value for their health and wellbeing.”
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Separately, Miller told congressional lawmakers in April that the market is “begging” for federal regulations around cannabis products.
Rep. James Comer, R-KY, also asked about FDA’s inaction on regulations. He sarcastically asked if “a gazillion of bureaucrats who work at home” would be required to regulate CBD and other cannabinoids.
The consumable hemp product crackdown isn’t exclusive to the federal government, as multiple states—from California to Florida—have moved to ban intoxicating cannabinoids in recent months.
Texas’ legislature delivered to its governor a recent bill which would ban all hemp-derived cannabinoid foods and products that contain detectable THC. Gov. Greg Abbott (R), however, has not stated how he plans to act.
Meanwhile, alcohol industry representatives descended on Washington, D.C. in April to urge members of Congress to create a federal regulatory framework for intoxicating hemp-derived products such as cannabinoid-infused beverages—a market segment that’s ballooned since the legalization of hemp through the 2018 Farm Bill.
A report from Bloomberg Intelligence (BI) last year called cannabis a “significant threat” to the alcohol industry, citing survey data that suggests more people are using cannabis as a substitute for alcoholic beverages such a beer and wine.
Last November, meanwhile, a beer industry trade group put out a statement of guiding principles to address what it called “the proliferation of largely unregulated intoxicating hemp and cannabis products,” warning of risks to consumers and communities resulting from THC consumption.
North Carolina Governor supports marijuana legalization, and creates a bipartisan committee to develop a plan
Brendan Cleak is the photographer.
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