Senate leaders released a stopgap that would push most of the federal hemp deadline to December 11. Cannabinoids the plant cannot make still die on schedule, both chambers have to agree and the states writing their own rules are not waiting.
Key Takeaways
The Senate’s proposed stopgap would delay most of the federal hemp deadline from November 12 to December 11, but it still must pass both chambers in identical form and get the president’s signature.
Products containing cannabinoids that the plant cannot produce naturally would still lose federal hemp status on November 12. The 0.4-milligram cap and the remaining changes to the federal definition of hemp would wait until December 11.
State restrictions enacted in Illinois and pending in North Carolina move on their own schedules, unaffected by any federal delay.
The federal ban on hemp-derived THC products was supposed to arrive November 12. Most of the industry could now be one congressional agreement away from getting 29 more days.
Senate leaders released a stopgap funding bill on Sunday that would keep federal agencies running through December 11 and, tucked inside, delay the planned prohibition on most hemp products until that same date.
“Until December 11, 2026, the amendments made by section 781 of division B of Public Law 119–37 shall only apply with respect to products described in paragraphs (1)(C)(ii)(I) and (1)(C)(iv)(I) of section 297A of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946.”
Section 2019, Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027
The hemp language appears in Section 2019 of the bill’s separate extensions division. Rather than repeating the definition, it cross-references two clauses in the hemp law Congress enacted last year. Those clauses cover intermediate and final products containing cannabinoids “that are not capable of being naturally produced by a Cannabis sativa L. plant.” Until December 11, those would be the only new exclusions taking effect. The restrictions on …
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Author: Javier Hasse / High Times
