Federal budget plan would ban hemp-derived THC, THCA flower

U.S.hemp interests are sounding the alarm over a House Republican budget proposal that, if passed by Congress, would ban hemp-derived THC products outright at the federal level, including so-called THCA flower.

The proposal – the Fiscal Year 2026 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Bill” – has language that would “clos(e) the hemp loophole’” created by the 2018 Farm Bill, said U.S.Rep.

Andy Harris, a Maryland Republican and the chair of a key subcommittee. ADVERTISEMENT The $25.523 billion spending bill introduced Wednesday includes funding for rural broadband, food stamps and federal food inspectors.

But the measure also drastically revises the definition of hemp used in the 2018 Farm Bill that has led to “the proliferation of unregulated intoxicating hemp products, including (d)elta-8 and hemp flower, being sold online and in gas stations across the country,” Harris said in a statement.How the bill redefines hemp Under Harris’ proposal: Hemp is redefined as cannabis with a “total tetrahydrocannabinol concentration (including tetrahydrocannabinolic acid) of not more than 0.3 percent in the plant on a dry weight basis.” Novel cannabinoids such as delta-8 and delta-10 THC “synthesized or manufactured outside the plant” are not considered hemp The bill also creates a new definition for “hemp-derived cannabinoid product(s).” ADVERTISEMENT Those are defined as products with “quantifiable amounts” of THC, THCA or “any other cannabinoids that have similar effects (or are marketed to have similar effects) on humans or animals as tetrahydrocannabinol.” That would seem to include so-called “novel cannabinoids” found in hemp products sold online, such as THCP and delta-10 THC.

‘Farmer-crushing, job-killing hemp ban’ But since no legal protections are included, the upshot is to “effe...