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Hemp Industry on the Brink – What's Next?
The longest federal government shutdown in American history came to an end on Wednesday night when President Donald Trump signed a funding bill, but the potential end of the $28 billion hemp industry—and its countless THC-infused beverages, edibles and other intoxicating products— has just begun.
An amendment inside the Agriculture Appropriations section of the minibus spending bill to re-open the federal government effectively bans most hemp derived-THC products currently on the market, which has been both a lifeline to the struggling marijuana industry and another fierce competitor.
In 2018, the Farm Bill legalized hemp and all its derivatives, isomers and extracts. And since hemp and marijuana are different varietals of the same plant—cannabis sativa L.—they contain the same compounds and hemp can be used to make products of similar potencies, or even stronger, than those found in state-regulated marijuana dispensaries across 40 states.
For the last seven years, as long as each hemp product is made from hemp—defined as cannabis that contains 0.3% of delta-9 THC or less—they have been considered technically legal at the federal level. Armed with the Farm Bill, an entire industry unfettered by laws banning marijuana has been selling these products online, across state lines, at gas stations, convenience stores and other places where marijuana is still outlawed. THC-infused beverages, which generate about $1 billion in annual sales across the U.S., have surged in popularity and even big box retailers like Total Wine, Circle K, and Target have begun to carry these products. And Edibles.com, owned by parent company Edible Arrangements, known for its festive fruit baskets, even leaned into its name earlier this year and began selling edibles infused with hemp-derived THC.
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