The Hemp Ban Cometh
A breakdown & belated hello.
Monday, November 17, 2025
Time to read: About 5 minutes. Contains 1,285 words.
Hello, dear readers. It’s been a minute. Nothing like a federal hemp ban out of left field to bring me back into the swing of things. It was nice catching up with a few of you this past week to hear your thoughts, and it’s wonderful to be back in your inboxes today.
I’ll get more into what I’ve been up to in an upcoming dispatch. For now, let’s get caught up on what happens now, what some Sticky Bits readers and founders are saying about the federal policy shift, and alternate paths for hemp’s future.
Federal Hemp Ban Passes
Amid gridlock over the spending bill to reopen the federal government, a sneaky addition was made in the eleventh hour. A provision that effectively bans hemp-derived THC products.
This provision changes the definition of hemp to include all forms of THC, including THCA, and caps maximum THC at 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container. The new language essentially closes the loophole created by the 2018 Farm Bill that made space for intoxicating THC products to be sold nationwide. It would also override state laws that currently regulate hemp-derived intoxicants.
This wasn’t the only weird weed provision added to the spending bill—another bars funding to reclassify marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act. So…I guess the potential rescheduling to Schedule 3 is at a standstill.
Who This Affects
The redefinition of hemp affects everyone involved in cannabis business outside state-licensed dispensaries. Whether it’s gas station THCA vapes, Kush Queen’s Delta-8 gummies, or Rose Los Angeles’ flower-rosin Delights, this ban, as it stands, would make them illegal come November 2026.
A reminder that THC is THC, whether derived from high THC cannabis plants or low THC plants categorized as hemp, it’s the same compound. And realistically, in most cases, “hemp-derived THC products” are made with concentrate created by processing full-strength plants. It’s just a matter of math per milligram that makes it legal to ship across state lines. I broke down this fundamental misunderstanding of hemp THC and cannabis THC being different in this past dispatch—scientifically, they just aren’t.
What Happens Now
Nothing changes for now. The ban doesn’t go into effect until this time next year. But a lot can happen in a year. One has to imagine that with at least $1.5+ billion in sales tax revenue for states at stake, there is plenty of incentive to recalibrate this overreaching ban. (More on those possibilities in a bit.)
Who To Be Mad At
Mitch McConnell, grim reaper incarnate, is largely responsible. When Rand Paul proposed to delete this provision from the bill, McConnell knocked that down as well. He’s been lamenting the 2018 Farm Bill’s impact for a while, so it isn’t a surprise. But I do want to clarify one thing: There’s a tweet going around claiming he received $889,254 in donations from the beer, liquor, and wine industries. While true, it’s a cumulative figure of everything he’s received from those industries between 1990 to 2024. It’s still possible that significant chunks of the $785,856.23 he’s received this year are coming from Big Beer, Wine, and Liquor—he was last ranked #10 in the top recipients of contributions from those industries.
The six democrats who flipped their vote on this bill to get it through merit mention here as well: Jared Golden of Maine, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, Adam Gray of California, Don Davis of North Carolina, Henry Cuellar of Texas, and Tom Suozzi of New York. I don’t know how they’re sleeping right now. Of course, there were mounting pressures to restore SNAP benefits and other government-funded programs key to thousands of people’s survival. But what of the sacrifices those citizens made during the shutdown? All for naught, now. With way more expensive health insurance premiums to look forward to.
What Folks Are Saying
In the eyes of David Wilfert, co-founder of athletic CBD topical brand, Weedsport, it was only a matter of time, and he’s already considered next steps if the ban goes through.
“39 state attorneys general want the THCA loophole closed by the feds. Can’t see any way around that. We can reformulate the base oils for our topicals, but it’s really a waiting game for the final regs. If the feds target the “C” class of cannabinoids, “CBG, CBN, etc.” it will be a bummer, but we’ve always had CBD iso[late] products for our elite-level athlete customers who can’t risk hot piss.”
Weedsport has plans to expand its offerings, and this ban has lit a fire under them to pick a recreational state and partner to get back in the mix of dispensary shelves.
Olivia Sawyer, founder of Kush Queen, also puts diversification high on her list of priorities right now.
“You would have to not have been paying attention to see this coming from a mile away. We’ve been expanding into more compliant markets over the last year to prepare for this. We would likely have to edit some dosages and change some things, but we’ll find a way to keep selling online. I would imagine most smart people have already pivoted into functional mushrooms, adaptogens, uninfused products, and strengthening core CBD.”
As many of my colleagues who sprung into action following news of this bill are friends who feel numb to dramatic changes at this point. After so many pivots, pitfalls, merchant processors freezing funds, and new costly overhead requirements, there is an understandable hopelessness for many founders who’ve done everything by the book year after year and still get screwed. I’m sure many of you can relate to that feeling, or at least at some point have.
Alternate Futures
While it is possible this ban goes into effect as it’s written, other possibilities abound.
Perma-delay. The 2018 Farm Bill was due for a five-year revision in 2023, but it was pushed out to 2024, and pushed again when Congress couldn’t come to a consensus by the deadline. This is a different scenario, but there are pathways to simply push out the date on which the ban actually goes into effect.
Repeal the provision. Through something called a technical provisions bill, this hemp definition provision could simply get wiped from this bill ex-post-facto. That’s what plenty of congress intend to do with another weird provision in the spending bill that would allow senators to sue the federal government if their phone records are accessed without notice (with a minimum payout of $500k 🫠).
Revise the provision to leave it to states to decide. They could open it up to individual states to decide and operate on their own, the way they can with medical and adult-use cannabis programs.
Enact the legislation to clean up hemp regulation that Oregon senators introduced last year. Yep. We already wrote this shit out! A national age restriction, testing requirements, truth in labeling, and FDA oversight—it’s all in there.
Legalize hemp and cannabis on a federal level. Take everything we’ve learned in individual state programs and do this thing right. (A girl can hope!)
Many other things can happen between now and November 2026—let’s not forget the midterms! All 435 Representatives and a third of the Senate will be up for election. Democrats are looking pretty favorable right now, and imagine how many new embarrassing scandals will occupy the GOP by then. ✤
What are your thoughts? What’s your next move? How can I help connect folks?
Comments are open, as is my inbox. (Just reply to this email.)
‘Til next time (I promise it will be sooner than last time),
Lauren Yoshiko