Deal to Reopen the Government Includes Hidden Hemp Product Ban

A new congressional funding package aimed at reopening the federal government now includes a provision that would dramatically reshape the legal hemp market. For small business owners, farmers, and retailers working under the promise of the 2018 Farm Bill, the stakes could not be higher.

What the Deal Contains

• The emerging legislative text includes language that would ban intoxicating hemp-derived THC products by redefining “hemp” so that many currently legal products would fall outside the safe harbor. 
  
  
• The change would shift hemp’s legal definition to exclude “hemp-derived cannabinoid products … intended for human or animal use through any means of application or administration” unless they meet future regulatory criteria. 
  
  
• The proposed language would move THC limits to “total THC (including THCA)” rather than just Delta-9 THC, potentially collapsing full-spectrum hemp products into regulated or banned status. 
  
  
• The legislation is packaged inside an appropriations (funding) measure — meaning it is tied to a must-pass government funding timeline rather than a standalone hemp policy debate. 
  

Why This Is an Emergency for Hemp Commerce & Jobs

The original Federal law, the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (commonly the 2018 Farm Bill) legalized commercial hemp cultivation and allowed derivatives, so long as Delta-9 THC stays under 0.3 % by dry weight. 

The new language threatens to reverse much of that progress overnight: small farmers, processors, product manufacturers and retailers that have built businesses around compliant hemp derivatives now face regulatory destruction. This shift would destroy an entire industry. 

At the federal level, the timeline is extremely compressed. Because this is tied to a funding deal to reopen the government, the policy change could be locked in before full debate, meaning little time remains for stakeholders to respond.

Redefining hemp to exclude most consumable hemp-derived products would impact not only producers but also thousands of downstream retail jobs.

Implications for Our Members and Community

• Business operators should view this as a direct threat: marketing, manufacturing or distributing full-spectrum hemp-derived cannabinoid products could suddenly become illegal under the new definition.
  
• Farmers who planted hemp anticipating lawful derivative markets now face crops whose end‐use markets may vanish.
  
  
• Consumers relying on hemp-derived products for wellness, supplementation, or other legal uses could lose access or worse, be pushed into the illicit market.
  
  
• The broader economic ripple: tens of thousands of jobs across cultivation, extraction, processing, packaging, shipping and retail may be at risk.

What AHAA Recommends

Immediate Action: Contact your U.S. Senators and Representatives and ask them to strike the anti-hemp language from the appropriations bill. Because this is a must-pass vehicle, timing is critical.

Educate Policymakers: Explain that legitimate industrial hemp (fiber, grain, seed) was the intention of the 2018 Farm Bill, and that many derivative products have developed responsibly in regulated state markets.

Advocate for Regulation—not Prohibition: Call for clear rules, quality standards, age restrictions, testing and labeling for hemp‐derived cannabinoid products rather than blanket bans.

Stay Informed and Mobilize: Subscribe to our Email alerts, Monitor hearings and appropriations texts. Encourage peers (farmers, extractors, retailers) to raise their voices.

Prepare for Rapid Change: Re-evaluate your product lines and business model with respect to regulatory risk. Engage legal counsel if necessary.

This federal appropriations process is no longer just about funding the government, it is now the battleground for the future of legal hemp commerce in America. 

The changes under consideration threaten to undo years of progress, risk hundreds of thousands of jobs and undermine the promise of hemp as a fair, innovative American industry.

At AHAA we stand with farmers, small businesses, consumers and communities whose livelihoods depend on hemp. The window to act is now.

Contact your lawmakers today.

Use the US Capitol switchboard number:
(202) 224-3121
(It will ask for your zip code and you will be redirected to your state senator's office)

Tell them: Ensure the hearing of the amendment to remove the anti-hemp language from the funding package. Let them know you support hemp’s promise for jobs, economic growth and American innovation and you will not stand by while it is reversed.

Sources:

“Emerging Deal to Reopen Government Includes Intoxicating Hemp Ban” — Cannabis Wire, November 10, 2025. https://cannabiswire.com/newsletters/emerging-deal-to-reopen-government-includes-intoxicating-hemp-ban/

“Deal to end government shutdown may also ban hemp THC products” — Crain’s Detroit Business, November 2025. https://www.crainsdetroit.com/cannabis/deal-end-government-shutdown-may-also-ban-hemp-thc-products

“Senate Advances Hemp Product Ban — But GOP Senator Has Last-Ditch Plan To Fight Back” — Marijuana Moment, November 10, 2025. https://www.marijuanamoment.net/senate-advances-hemp-product-ban-but-gop-senator-has-last-ditch-plan-to-fight-back/

“39 Attorneys General Tell Federal Lawmakers to Ban Hemp THC Products” — Cannabis Business Times, October 27, 2025. https://www.cannabisbusinesstimes.com/hemp/news/15770306/39-attorneys-general-tell-federal-lawmakers-to-ban-hemp-thc-product

“Hemp Provisions in the House Farm Bill and FY2025 Agriculture Appropriations” — Congressional Research Service (PDF), May 23, 2024. https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/IN/PDF/IN12381/IN12381.3.pdf