Congressional Committee Approves Bill To Ban All Hemp Products With THC

A GOP-led House committee has approved a spending bill containing provisions that hemp stakeholders say would devastate the industry, prohibiting most consumable cannabinoid products that were federally legalized during the first Trump administration.

Just one day after releasing the text of the legislation, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies advanced the proposal covering fiscal year 2026 in a 9-7 vote, sending it to the full committee for consideration.

The 138-page bill covers a wide range of issues, but for the hemp industry, there’s a section of particular concern that would redefine hemp under federal statute in a way that would prohibit cannabis products containing any “quantifiable” amount of THC or “any other cannabinoids that have similar effects (or are marketed to have similar effects) on humans or animals” as THC.

Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD), chair of the subcommittee, said in opening remarks that the legislation “closes the hemp loophole from the 2018 Farm Bill that has resulted in the proliferation of intoxicating cannabinoid products, including delta-8 and hemp flower being sold online and in gas stations nationwide under the false guise of being ‘USDA approved.’”

“As many states have stepped in to curb these dangerous products from reaching consumers, particularly children, it’s time for Congress to act to close this loophole, while protecting the legitimate industrial hemp industry,” he said.

That would effectively eliminate the most commonly marketed hemp products within the industry, as even non-intoxicating CBD items that are sold across the country typically contain trace amounts of THC. Under current law, those products are allowed if they contain no more than 0.3 percent THC by dry weight.

But the proposed policy being taken up by the subcommittee helmed by Harris, a vociferous opponent of marijuana reform, would drastically change that. It would instead maintain the legal status of “industrial hemp” under a revised definition that allows for the cultivation and sale of hemp grown for fiber, whole grain, oil, cake, nut, hull, microgreens or “other edible hemp leaf products intended for human consumption.”

A press release from Harris’s committee says the legislation “supports the Trump Administration and mandate of the American people by…closing the hemp loophole that has resulted in the proliferation of unregulated intoxicating hemp products, including Delta-8 and hemp flower, being sold online and in gas stations across the country.”

The bill is scheduled for a markup before the full House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, June 11.

The hemp language is largely consistent with appropriations and agriculture legislation that was introduced, but not ultimately enacted, under the last Congress.

Hemp industry stakeholders rallied against that proposal, an earlier version of which was also included in the base bill from the subcommittee last year. It’s virtually identical to a provision of the 2024 Farm Bill that was attached by a separate committee last May via an amendment from Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL), which was also not enacted into law.

“If this amendment becomes law, it will destroy the entire American hemp industry and set back a decade’s worth of progress to fully legalize cannabis,” Jim Higdon, co-founder of the Kentucky-based company Cornbread Hemp, told Marijuana Moment. “Democrats and Republicans who believe in freedom should oppose Rep. Harris’s attack on American hemp farmers.”

There are some differences between the prior spending bill and this latest version for 2026, including a redefining of what constitutes a “quantifiable” amount of THC that’d be prohibited for hemp products.

It now says that a quantifiable amount is “based on substance, form, manufacture, or article (as determined by the Secretary of Health and Human Services in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture),” whereas it was previously defined as an amount simply “determined by the Secretary in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services.”

The proposed legislation also now specifies that the term hemp does not include “a drug that is the subject of an application approved under subsection (c) or (j) of section 505 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 355),” which seems to carve out an exception for Food and Drug Administration- (FDA) approved drugs such Epidiolex, which is synthesized from CBD.

While certain text has been revised, the legislation “has the same desired effect, which would ban the vast majority of hemp products in the marketplace,” Jonathan Miller, general counsel to the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, told Marijuana Moment on Wednesday ahead of the vote.

Miller said stakeholders are generally skeptical about the prospect of the appropriations legislation advancing in its current form given unrelated controversies over various provisions, but they are still operating under the impression that it’s “a dire emergency, because this would have such a devastating impact on farmers and on consumers that really take these products for granted to helping their health and wellness.”

Aaron Smith, CEO of the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA), stressed that hemp-derived THC products “are already widely available across the country.”

“Despite legislators’ intent, this budget provision won’t change that fact, but it will ensure these products are made and sold without oversight, delivering a big win to the drug cartels at the expense of public health and safety,” he said. “Congress should empower federal agencies to regulate these products responsibly, not double down on prohibitionist policies that have already proven to be failures both in practice and in the court of public opinion.”

Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) called the provision “troublesome” and “overly broad” in an email update to supporters, saying it will “undermine states across the country who have enacted critical regulations that govern intoxicating hemp products.”

The alcohol industry group said that Congress should act on the issue of intoxicating hemp, but only by targeting synthetic derivatives while explicitly giving states the authority to regulate products.

“In the absence of a robust federal regulatory system, states have been filling the void by passing comprehensive legislation to regulate intoxicating hemp and protect public health and safety within their borders,” WSWA said. “This has led to the development of a vibrant, innovative new industry that is creating thousands of American-made jobs and generating state tax revenue. Adoption of the current language contained in this bill would undermine those state actions and do nothing to eliminate bad actors who irresponsibly market potentially harmful products.”

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Separately, Miller told congressional lawmakers in April that the market is “begging” for federal regulations around cannabis products.

At the hearing, Rep. James Comer (R-KY) also inquired about FDA inaction around regulations, sarcastically asking if it’d require “a gazillion bureaucrats that work from home” to regulate cannabinoids such as CBD.

The consumable hemp product crackdown isn’t exclusive to the federal government, as multiple states—from California to Florida—have moved to ban intoxicating cannabinoids in recent months.

In Texas, the legislature recently delivered a bill to the governor that would outlaw all consumable hemp-derived cannabinoid products containing any detectable THC. Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has declined to say how he will act on the measure.

Meanwhile, alcohol industry representatives descended on Washington, D.C. in April to urge members of Congress to create a federal regulatory framework for intoxicating hemp-derived products such as cannabinoid-infused beverages—a market segment that’s ballooned since the legalization of hemp through the 2018 Farm Bill.

A report from Bloomberg Intelligence (BI) last year called cannabis a “significant threat” to the alcohol industry, citing survey data that suggests more people are using cannabis as a substitute for alcoholic beverages such a beer and wine.

Last November, meanwhile, a beer industry trade group put out a statement of guiding principles to address what it called “the proliferation of largely unregulated intoxicating hemp and cannabis products,” warning of risks to consumers and communities resulting from THC consumption.

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Photo courtesy of Kimzy Nanney.