Federal Hemp Update

Federal hemp update — September 4: There is a meaningful new development in the post-delay negotiations.

Texas Rep. Beth Van Duyne says the White House is taking the hemp issue seriously now that the December 11 extension is law. She is pushing her proposal to keep hemp-derived THC beverages federally legal under an alcohol-style framework, with age restrictions, taxation, serving limits, marketing controls and a prohibition on synthetic cannabinoids.

At the same time, Rep. Morgan Griffith is openly calling for compromise around a broader federal regulatory framework rather than prohibition. He specifically pointed to third-party testing and said his own hemp cannabinoid bill is close to what he believes Congress should enact, while acknowledging that competing proposals may need to be merged.

The opposition remains organized. Rep. Andy Harris, who helped drive the 2025 restriction, says Congress should allow the ban to take effect rather than replace it with regulations. He is opposing efforts to use the December extension to build a new legal market structure.

For Texas, Van Duyne’s role is becoming more significant: a Texas Republican is now directly arguing inside Congress for preserving at least part of the hemp-THC market rather than allowing wholesale federal prohibition.

Nothing has yet changed about the deadlines: most affected hemp products remain protected until December 11, 2026, while certain synthetic cannabinoids that cannot naturally be produced by Cannabis sativa L. remain scheduled for federal recriminalization on November 12.

The important shift is that the debate has now moved from simply “delay the ban” to active negotiations over what federal regulation could replace it.