What happens on December 11
In November 2025, Congress rewrote the federal definition of hemp as part of a funding law (Public Law 119-37, section 781). Most of the new definition takes effect on December 11, 2026, the same day the temporary law that funds the government expires.
Two changes do most of the damage:
- THCA counts after harvest, too. Since 2018 the law has limited hemp to 0.3 percent delta-9 THC. Growing crops already had to pass a total-THC test that includes THCA. Starting December 11 that total-THC limit applies to harvested hemp and finished products as well, so hemp flower sold today because it tests low in delta-9 would no longer count as hemp.
- Finished products are capped at 0.4 milligrams of THC per container. That is far below what most hemp products on shelves contain today. The industry estimates about 95 percent of current products would no longer count as hemp.
Hemp grown for fiber, grain and seed is treated separately and is not the target of these changes.
A temporary delay holds most of this back. From November 12 until December 11, the new rules reach only cannabinoids the hemp plant cannot produce at all. The delay ends on December 11. That is also when the ban reaches cannabinoids made outside the plant by chemical conversion, such as delta-8 made from CBD.
What the ban would mean
- Farmers who sell hemp for flower, or to companies that make CBD and THC products, would lose most of their market.
- Stores that sell hemp products would have to pull most of them from their shelves.
- Adults who buy hemp products today would not stop. They would buy from places with no age checks, no testing and no labels.
What we are asking Congress to do
Fix the hemp definition in the funding Congress has to pass by December 11, and replace the ban with real rules:
- Sales only to adults 21 and over, with real age checks
- Lab testing, with results available to buyers
- Child-resistant packaging that does not look like candy
- Keep the ban on synthetic cannabinoids
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