A Sword of Damocles hangs over producers and retailers of hemp products. If some regressive politicians and big marijuana multistate operators (MSO) get their way, the upcoming 2025 Farm Bill may change the definition of THC limits in a manner that could crush the hemp industry. Products made with cannabinoids like THCA, CBD, and Delta-8 could disappear from shelves. But there’s also hope that the popularity of hemp products and sympathetic lawmakers may let the industry continue with better regulation and safety for consumers.
A is for Ambiguity
At the heart of the debate is THCA, which is the precursor for Delta-9 THC, the cannabinoid that gets you high. THCA in its raw state is not psychoactive, but when it’s decarboxylated, i.e. heated by being smoked, vaped, or cooked into edibles, or simply allowed to degrade overtime, it becomes Delta-9 THC and, yes, it can get you baked. This is how it becomes intoxicating hemp.
The 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized hemp with delta-9THC at a concentration of 0.3% or less on a dry-weight basis, was vague enough in its wording to allow an industry of hemp-based goods to emerge. Many of these products synthesized from hemp, like CBD, delta-8 THC, and THCA, have become popular for both therapeutic and recreational customers. Head shops, counter culture retailers, and many other health-based businesses have enjoyed a massive boost in sales over the last few years. And while some states have implemented regulations on hemp products, a change, or clarification, in how the 0.3% limit is federally defined could upend the whole market.
Reactionary regulations being floated
Congresswoman Mary Miller, R-IL, has proposed an amendment to the upcoming 2025 Farm Bill that would require hemp companies to meet an impossible standard. Among new regulations, it would create a “total THC” calculation that would require all variants of hemp to meet the 0.3% limit closely based on the potential intoxicating THC it contains. This essentially bans most products containing THCA.
Miller knows what she’s doing. If she wanted to improve the quality of hemp-based products, there are many ways to do it. Instead, she relies on outdated Drug War tactics disguised as scientific and public safety concerns in order to strangle a thriving hemp market.
Big Cannabis piles on
MSOs have gotten on the anti-hemp bandwagon as well. While these major marijuana retailers and wholesalers are for full cannabis legalization, they’re also making fortunes in medical and recreational THC, and they’d love nothing more than to vanquish their hemp-industry competition. Hiding behind the fig leaf of safety concerns, which could be addressed with smart regulation, they’re cynically allying with cannabis prohibitionists like Miller to amend the 2025 Farm Bill in a way that can crush the hemp industry and protect their profits.
Popular products in the bullseye
There is a push to restrict hemp products to only “naturally occurring” cannabinoids, which could exclude synthetically derived-from-hemp products like CBD anddelta-8 THC. For businesses that rely on these products, the effects of this new prohibition would be catastrophic. It would undermine their raison d’être. Sure, businesses could try to reformulate their flower, vapes, supplements, tinctures, and topicals to obey the law, but it would come at the cost of their effectiveness and usefulness as therapeutic or enjoyable experiences. Customers wouldn’t buy it.
Shelves would have to be cleared. The hemp market would sink back underground, And it would make it more likely to be saturated with low-quality contaminated products—a self-fulfilling prophecy confirming the worst fears of the Puritan politicians and bad-faith-protectionists.
Hope sparks on the horizon
What if things went well for hemp? There are reasons for optimism. Despite a federal executive and legislative branch that would seem hostile to cannabis, there are many allies for the hemp industry on both sides of the aisle. In fact, the 2018 Farm Bill that blew open the door to hemp products was passed under our current president and a Republican congress. At the recent Hemp Roundtable, featured guests included prominent Republicans like Senators Ron Thune and former majority leader Mitch McConnell.
And among Democrats in attendance, Senator Ron Wyden shared a useful message:
“What we need is regulation, not prohibition, because banning hemp products won’t keep them out of the hands of kids. Take the unsafe stuff off the market, inform consumers about what is safe—that’s the way you’re going to help farmers, businesses, and get this done.”
On the state level, party affiliation has not always been a consistent indicator of support or resistance to the hemp
Governor Ron Desantis of Florida is a major proponent of the hemp industry and presides over a thriving medical regime while being against recreational marijuana. Conversely, Governor Gavin Newsom of California has one of the largest recreational marijuana markets in the world yet has banned the hemp market from operating in his state. The battlefield to save hemp is nuanced.
As of this writing, the 2025 Farm Bill is still under development. Having been postponed in both 2023 and 2024, its enactment in 2025 is uncertain. But when it gets passed, will it destroy the hemp industry with unreasonable standards? Might it help the hemp industry with better enforcement of safety regulations? Or would it keep things the same, kicking the can down the road for another Congress to hash out?
Hard to tell. So let’s prepare for the worst, hope for the best, and meanwhile enjoy some of our favorite hemp products to help us chill out till then. Get More Updates
