The federal definition of hemp is about to change, and it will make a large share of the products currently sold as legal hemp federally unlawful. The date has been 12 November 2026 since the law passed last year. As of this weekend, that date is in doubt.
What the law does
Section 781 of Public Law 119-37, signed on 12 November 2025, makes three changes to the definition set by the 2018 Farm Bill.
It switches to total THC. Hemp has been defined by delta-9 THC alone — no more than 0.3% by dry weight. The new standard counts total tetrahydrocannabinols, including THCA, the non-intoxicating acid that converts to delta-9 when heated. That single change is what makes high-THCA flower non-compliant.
It caps finished products at 0.4 mg of total THC per container, and also reaches certain cannabinoids with effects similar to THC. Note that is per container, not per serving. A 10 mg gummy is 25 times the limit on its own; a jar of twenty is 500 times.
It excludes cannabinoids made in a laboratory rather than grown. Two categories are ruled out: compounds the cannabis plant cannot produce at all, and compounds it can produce naturally but which were instead synthesised outside it.
That second category is the significant one. Delta-8 THC does occur in cannabis, but only in traces far too small to extract commercially — so the delta-8 sold in shops is almost always made by chemically converting CBD in a lab. Under the new definition, how a cannabinoid was made matters as much as what it is. Commercial HHC and many other converted cannabinoids would also be caught, although precisely which statutory category some compounds fall into may depend on the FDA’s forthcoming cannabinoid classifications.
Who this affects
The intoxicating hemp market — delta-8, THCA flower, high-dose gummies and beverages — is the obvious target. The US Hemp Roundtable, an industry body, estimates that around 95% of hemp products currently on the market would fail the new standard.
But CBD buyers should not assume they are unaffected. The US Hemp Roundtable estimates that more than 90% of full-spectrum CBD products currently on sale exceed the 0.4 mg per-container cap. Full spectrum retains trace THC by design, and a per-container limit that low catches many products that are neither marketed nor ordinarily used as intoxicants.
CBD isolate products, and broad-spectrum products verified to contain no detectable THC, are less likely to be affected. Broad spectrum is not automatically compliant, however: even a small residual amount can exceed 0.4 mg across an entire container. Industrial hemp grown for fibre and grain is unaffected.
Where it stands this week
Updated 9 August 2026.
The 12 November date has held all year. Neither chamber’s farm bill touched it, and a stack of standalone bills to delay, repeal or replace Section 781 has gone nowhere past committee.
Then the White House intervened. Language delaying most of the new restrictions was added late to the Senate’s stopgap government funding bill, at the administration’s request — a move that visibly irritated Republicans who had voted for the ban less than a year earlier.
On 8 August the Senate rejected an amendment from Ted Budd that would have stripped the delay out, tabling it 61–32. It then passed the funding bill 90–6 in the early hours of 9 August.
If that becomes law, most of Section 781 would effectively be held back until 11 December 2026, tied to the length of the funding measure. Technically the provision still takes effect on 12 November, but during that one-month window it would apply only to products containing cannabinoids not capable of being naturally produced by the cannabis plant.
It is not law yet. The House does not return until 31 August and must pass it, and the President must sign it. Until then, 12 November remains the operative date.
What this means if you buy CBD
Nothing changes today. Products that qualify as hemp now continue to qualify under the 2018 federal definition until the new standard takes effect.
After that, if you use a full-spectrum product, there is a reasonable chance it will be reformulated or withdrawn. CBD isolate and verified THC-free broad-spectrum products are the safer bet for continuity. Our guide to full spectrum, broad spectrum and isolate explains the differences.
Worth keeping two things separate, because they are routinely confused. Qualifying as hemp under this definition is one question. Whether a product may lawfully be sold as a food or supplement is another — the FDA’s position on CBD is unchanged by any of this, and remains that CBD is excluded from the dietary supplement definition.
State law is a third layer again. Some states already apply total-THC measurement and per-serving caps; others will see a sharp change.
What happens next
When the House returns it must decide whether to accept the Senate’s temporary delay, reject it, or pursue different language. Unless both chambers approve the same measure and the President signs it, 12 November remains the operative date.
Beyond that, a one-month delay resolves nothing — it buys the industry time to argue for regulation rather than prohibition, which is what several pending bills would do.
White House officials have reportedly told senators they will not seek a further delay.
We will update this article as it moves.
Sources
- Congressional Research Service, Change to the federal definition of hemp and implications for federal enforcement — the statutory detail, including the FDA’s obligation to publish cannabinoid lists and define “container”.
- Marijuana Moment and The Hill on the 8 August Senate votes.
This article covers United States federal law and was last updated on 9 August 2026. Rules differ by state and by country, and this situation is changing quickly — check the date on anything you read about hemp law, including this page. Nothing here is legal advice.
