Government Reopening Is on Track to Ban Hemp Beverages Nationwide – Here’s What to Know

A hemp plant growing at Old Manchester Hemp Co. in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo: Eva Russo/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)

A spending bill slated to end the government shutdown includes legislation that would ban hemp-derived THC products nationwide, potentially spelling doom for the $28 billion industry and the over 300,000 Americans it employs.

On Sunday night, the U.S. Senate approved a full-year spending package that would prohibit the sale of hemp through virtual retailers, gas stations and convenience stores. The provision is intended as a reversal of the 2018 Farm Bill’s so-called “hemp loophole,” which legalized products with less than 0.3% THC by dry weight.

The package was met with resistance by Sen. Rand Paul, who introduced an amendment attempting to strip the language. The amendment failed in a 76-24 vote. The hemp ban now heads to the House of Representatives, which is prepared to vote on the package as early as Wednesday.

An unnamed White House official told NBC News that the current hemp provisions have the “support” of President Donald Trump.

If enacted, the package would not ban cannabis products available through licensed retailers in approved states. Instead, it would target goods commonly sold under the names Delta-8 and Delta-9, which are widely available across the country in the form of drinks, gummies, flower, tinctures and vapes. The U.S. Hemp Roundtable contends that over 90% of nonintoxicating hemp-derived products would be wiped out by the ban.

Adam Stettner, CEO of cannabis financing firm FundCanna, says that the “government funding bill isn’t policymaking, it’s panic disguised as progress.”

“Inserting a blanket prohibition by sneaking it into a budget deal won’t work; prohibition never works,” Stettner shared in an email statement. “Wiping out the legal hemp industry is reckless, anti-business and anti-consumer, and it will simply drive it underground. Congress should work with industry to build smart guardrails, not against it to score political points. There are jobs, consumer demand, billions in tax revenue and a growing industry that can be safe for consumers with just a bit of logic rather than politics as usual.”