The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued two back-to-back updates on the use of federal welfare benefits to buy cannabis foods or drinks—at one point singling out hemp-derived CBD as a prohibited item but then replacing that with broader language focusing on “cannabis/marijuana.”
A FAQ was updated by USDA Food and Nutrition Service last week in order to clarify the rules regarding what benefits can and cannot used for Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Programs (SNAP). The new federal website explicitly states that cannabis is not allowed to be bought with SNAP benefits.
“Households CANNOT use SNAP benefits to buy…Food and drinks containing controlled substances such as cannabis/marijuana,” it now says. SNAP benefits cannot be used to buy alcohol, tobacco, vitamins, pets food or foods which are popular at the time of purchase.
This is not the first time that the FAQ has been updated in recent days. But the reason for the update remains unclear. The first update, released last week, stated that SNAP benefits could not be used to purchase “cannabis products such as CBD and other controlled substances.”
This CBD-specific terminology was removed quickly.
MEDCAN24 contacted USDA to clarify, but a spokesperson was not available immediately.
The new FAQ doesn’t represent a change in policy, however, since the USDA issued guidance on this issue back in 2020, stating that people could use SNAP to purchase certain food products containing “hulled hemp seeds, hemp protein powder and hemp oil,” but not “hemp leaves and shoots.”
USDA clarified that at the same time, “foods containing cannabis-derived product, like CBD, or any other controlled substance, is not eligible for SNAP benefits.” This statement was similar to the one in the most recent update of the FAQ. In a previous update, the same language was used.
It is not clear why the agency decided to make the clarifications on the FAQ page. However, many cannabis industry professionals are watching closely for any signals that will indicate how President Donald Trump’s administration plans to handle marijuana and hemp during his second term.
Trump, in his first term as president, signed the 2018 Farm Bill, which federally legalized the hemp plant. This created an industry, and it has experienced considerable volatility since then, amid fears about the proliferation of unregulated cannabinoid-based products that are highly addictive.
But despite signing that legislation into law—and later endorsing marijuana rescheduling and industry banking access on the 2024 campaign trail—the president hasn’t publicly commented on cannabis policy issues since taking office in January.
Two bills introduced by the GOP in Congress earlier this month prohibit people from using financial aid provided under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (TANF) at marijuana dispensaries.
The USDA recently published a notice that they are terminating several trade advisory panels to comply with the executive order Trump issued in February, which is meant to shrink the federal government. In one of these committees, hemp industry representatives were added to help promote the crop on a global scale.
Meanwhile, a report released by USDA last month found that, even as more states and some congressional lawmakers pursued bans on consumable hemp products, the industry saw significant growth in 2024.
The National Hemp Report, which USDA conducts annually to assess the economic health of the market, showed that hemp farmers cultivated 45,294 acres of the crop last year, up 64 percent from 2023. The industry value increased by about 40%, reaching $445,000,000.
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As the fate of the consumable hemp market remains murky amid legislative pushback, a congressional committee held a hearing on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last month—with a hemp industry expert explaining how the market is “begging” for federal regulations around cannabis products.
Congressmen have repeatedly expressed concern about FDA’s refusal to create rules for marketing federally legal hemp products as a food product or dietary supplement.
Jonathan Miller of the U.S. Hemp Roundtable presented to committee a potential solution: a bill that Sen. Ron Wyden, D-OR, filed last year. The bipartisan legislation would establish a federal regulatory structure for hemp-derived cannabisoids.
This legislation empowers states to establish their own regulations for CBD products, while also giving FDA the authority to enforce certain standards of safety in the market.
In the absence of FDA rules, states from California to Florida to Texas have pushed for sweeping changes to their own laws around consumable hemp products. The focus of attention has been largely on products that are intoxicating, but CBD-based businesses which are federally approved have found themselves in greater danger.
Meanwhile, as lawmakers prepare to once again take up large-scale agriculture legislation this session, congressional researchers in January provided an overview of the policy landscape around hemp—emphasizing the divides around various cannabis-related proposals among legislators, stakeholders and advocates.
Senate Democrats released the long-awaited draft of 2024 Farm Bill last year that contained several proposed changes to federal hemp laws—including provisions to amend how the legal limit of THC is measured and reducing regulatory barriers for farmers who grow the crop for grain or fiber. But some stakeholders expressed concerns that the bill was intended to eliminate a wide range of hemp products currently sold on the market.
Texas Senate passes bill to expand medical marijuana program with new qualifying conditions and dispensary licenses
Kimzy Nanney provided the photo.
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