Unpacking the federal ban on certain hemp products included in deal to end shutdown

• In November 2025, the funding law signed to reopen the U.S. federal government after a lengthy shutdown contained a provision changing the definition of industrial hemp. Users on social media claimed that the change would greatly restrict or shut down the cannabis industry as a result.
• Hemp is one name for the plant Cannabis sativa, the leaves and flowers of which, when consumed medicinally or recreationally, are known as the drug marijuana. The legislation in question made hemp cultivation legal provided that the plants had a low concentration of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. THC is the main chemical in marijuana that causes users to feel high.
• In 2018, the U.S. Congress passed a law that legalized the production of industrial hemp in the United States. In the wake of the 2018 legislation, growers began producing strains of hemp that contained low levels of delta-9 THC but high levels of other forms of THC, which still have psychoactive effects. The change restricted industrial hemp to plants containing low concentrations of all THC, not just delta-9 THC. It will take effect on Nov. 12, 2026, one year from the date of signing.
• While it is unclear exactly how and to what extent the new restriction will be enforced, it will likely make industrial hemp-derived cannabis products, including delta-8 and delta-10 THC as well as synthetic THC products like edibles, drinks, oils and vapes, incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to sell legally. 
• The change will not directly apply to hemp-derived products that contain no THC but do contain concentrations of cannabidiol (CBD), another chemical produced by the Cannabis plant that is regulated as a drug by the FDA and does not cause a high.

On Oct. 1, 2025, the U.S. federal government shut down because Congress could not garner the votes on a spending bill. After 41 days, the Senate voted 60-40 to advance a bill re-funding the government, which reopened two days later. U.S. President Donald Trump signed it into law on Nov. 12, 2025. One provision inside the law changes a 7-year-old definition of hemp that has, since 2018, allowed for the legal sale of intoxicating hemp-derived products, potentially placing the booming legal hemp industry in jeopardy.

Users on social media claimed that the change in law would effectively ban industrial hemp-derived cannabis products. 

According to Rusty Rumley, a senior staff attorney at the National Agricultural Law Center, it’s impossible to know exactly how the law will impact the industry because it’s not yet clear how the changes will be enforced. However, its wording strongly restricts what Cannabis plants can be classified as hemp, impacting many of the previously legal products like edibles, drinks, oils and vapes that have become somewhat commonplace across the country. 

Hemp is a common name for the plant Cannabis sativa, the same plant that, when its leaves and flowers are consumed medicinally or recreationally, is called marijuana. It’s one of the most essential plants in world history. According to Britannica, humans have cultivated hemp since at least 2800 B.C. to make ropes, linen and paper. The plant has been used as a recreational drug and a medical treatment for just as long.

The incredibly diverse use cases of cannabis makes regulating it difficult. While U.S. laws about cannabis are complex and sometimes contradictory, the relevant law here is a piece of legislation commonly called the Farm Bill, which the U.S. Congress passes around every five years. It’s a large piece of legislation aimed at governing the nation’s agricultural and food programs and updating them when necessary. At the time of this writing, Congress passed the most recent Farm Bill in 2018. 

One of the most notable changes in 2018 Farm Bill was a new definition of the word “hemp,” which can be simply explained as dividing the plant in two categories based on how it is used — cannabis, which is illegal federally, and hemp, which became legal provided that it contains a low amount of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main chemical in marijuana that produces a high. In effect, the 2018 change created a new market for legal hemp-derived cannabis products, as growers bred plants with low levels of delta-9 THC and high levels of other forms of the chemical that still lead to a high.

What is the difference between hemp, cannabis and marijuana?

Botanically speaking, both hemp and marijuana come from a plant called Cannabis sativa. In practice, however, they differ in traits including appearance. The wild cabbage, Brassica oleracea, is an extreme example of this phenomenon. Over centuries, humans have selectively bred the plant to emphasize certain traits. Depending on the cultivar in question, shoppers can find Brassica oleracea sold in the grocery store as cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, brussels sprouts and kohlrabi.

According to the non-partisan Congressional Research Service, humans have also selectively bred cannabis, though in a less extreme manner. Hemp refers to the plant in its industrial capacity — today, that’s mostly for its fibers and seeds or grains — while marijuana refers to the plant in its medicinal and recreational capacity — as a drug, sold both legally and illegally. 

The main chemical in marijuana that causes psychoactive effects (the “high”) is called tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. It is found in the flowers and leaves of the plant, and it has many different forms. The most common is called delta-9 THC, oftentimes just called THC and sometimes delta-9. However (and this will be important later), delta-9 is not the only form of THC that can cause psychoactive effects.

The 2025 change and its possible effects

The language in the legislation to reopen the government made a slight tweak to the 2018 Farm Bill. Instead of classifying legal hemp based on its concentration of specifically delta-9 THC, it classifies hemp based on its total amount of all THC, including synthetic THC. In effect, this means that all products created from legal hemp containing low levels of delta-9 will likely become very difficult (if not impossible) to produce.

Shops selling previously legal hemp-derived THC and synthetic THC products, largely located in states where marijuana is not legal, are left in a pickle as a result. Rumley said the change would likely hurt hemp growers, who were previously allowed to ship across state lines, nationwide. In states where marijuana is legal, the change probably won’t mean too much for retailers, because the cannabis industry in those states is not based around delta-9 alternatives. However, Rumley was hesitant to predict how the proposed change would affect consumers because the law contained only vague language describing how the changes will be enforced.

One thing that is clear is that change will not directly affect products with no THC but high levels of cannabidiol (CBD), another chemical found in hemp that does not create a high. CBD is approved by the FDA as a treatment for epilepsy, and is strictly regulated as such. Production of CBD products could be indirectly impacted, however, by a general decrease in hemp production and if producers struggle to comply with the strict 0.4 milligram threshold for THC found in the new law.

It remains unclear exactly what the change will mean. Given the U.S. Department of Justice’s previous decisions about prosecuting marijuana usage, it was also unclear how much effort the government will put in to fully enforcing the change. Rumley suggested that both of those questions would be decided in the courts. 

A brief history of hemp in the United States

Hemp was a common crop in the United States for most of the country’s early years — even George Washington grew it. It was only regulated in the 1930s when Congress passed the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937. According to a 2019 page from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the act “stopped only the use of the plant as a recreational drug.” It also meant that industrial hemp was “caught up in anti-dope legislation, making hemp importation and commercial production in this country less economical.”

In 1970, Congress solidified the restrictions on marijuana with the Controlled Substances Act, which currently classifies both marijuana and THC under the strictest category, Schedule I, meaning they cannot be used for any reason.

According to the U.S. Constitution, federal law always supersedes state law. However, the U.S. government has limited resources. Over the years, the hardline position on hemp softened, and officials began considering low-level cannabis offenses a lower priority. In 2012, Colorado and Washington legalized marijuana recreationally. In 2013, the Justice Department issued a memorandum saying it would not enforce the Controlled Substances Act’s ban on marijuana in those states in some circumstances.

The following year Congress established an experimental program that allowed state agricultural departments and universities to grow industrial hemp — not marijuana — in the 2014 Farm Bill. Cannabis sativa was considered industrial hemp if, and only if, it had a “delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of not more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis.” 

As a comparison, in the 1980s marijuana was around 3% THC by weight, according to Health Canada (cannabis is legal in Canada). Today, THC concentration in marijuana generally hovers around 15%, with some potent strains reaching as high as 30%.

The hemp program was successful enough that, in 2018, Congress officially legalized hemp through that year’s Farm Bill, with the same restriction — only if the plant contained less than 0.3% delta-9 THC. Growers looked at the regulation and saw an opportunity. 

The opportunity came, most simply, because delta-9 is not the only form of THC that causes a high. Although it is less potent, delta-8 THC (among others) also have psychoactive effects. Growers could legally raise plants with a high concentration of delta-8 as long as they also had a low concentration of delta-9. Furthermore, CBD can turn into delta-8 THC through a chemical reaction.

Products derived from hemp, including edibles, drinks, oils and vapes, have since made their way onto store shelves nationwide, regardless of whether the state has legalized marijuana. The change contained in the November 2025 bill to reopen the government could shut the industry down, although the exact outcome remains to be seen.

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