Congress has rewritten the definition of hemp in a way that could wipe out most of the country’s popular hemp-derived products from the market starting November next year, harming a multi-billion-dollar industry and potentially leading to mass layoffs, industry leaders warn.

The 2018 Farm Bill removed hemp, a derivative of the cannabis plant, from the Controlled Substance Act, and federally legalized it for cultivation, processing, and sale provided that it contained no more than 0.3 percent delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary psychoactive compound found in cannabis.

This effectively banned intoxicating hemp from the market, but left open a loophole for hemp-derived products, like delta-8 THC, tetrahydrocannabinolic acids (THCA) and others, which have the same intoxicating effect while remaining below the legally defined threshold.

Congress addressed this issue last month, closing the existing loophole in the 2018 Farm Bill with a surprise provision passed as part of the broader government funding which ended the longest federal shutdown in U.S. history, H.R. 5371.

Section 781 of the “Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Extensions Act, 2026,” as the provision is officially known, effectively bans these hemp-derived products, outlawing products containing more than 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container.

The law changes the definition of hemp as comprising of any part of the cannabis plant, “including the seeds thereof and all derivatives, extracts, cannabinoids, isomers, acids, salts, and salts of isomers, whether growing or not, with a total tetrahydrocannabinols concentration (including tetrahydrocannabinolic acid) of not more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis.”

It also prohibits cannabinoids—hemp-derived products—“synthesized or manufactured outside the plant,” effectively banning any lab-created intoxicants like delta-8 and delta-10, and limits the allowed THC content to 0.4 milligrams per container of THCAs and “any other cannabinoids that have similar effects” or are said to have similar effects.

The new law will take effect in November 2026, to give businesses enough time to adjust to the new requirements—but it is set to upset what is now a multi-billion-dollar industry. 

A lot of popular hemp-related products in the U.S. will become federally illegal, including delta-8 vapes, delta-10 gummies, and HHC (or hexahydrocannabinol) edibles. 

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other agencies are expected to come up with an official list of cannabinoids that will be affected by the new law within 90 days of the bill’s enactment.

According to the Journal of Cannabis Research, for example, a singular hemp gummy generally contains 2.5 to 10 milligrams of THC—far too much for the new limit established by the new law.

Until then, the hemp industry, which is worth $28 billion and employs more than 300,000 people nationwide, as reported by CNBC, is in a state of uncertainty, warning of likely layoffs and enormous losses in revenues.

“We have lost the battle this time,” said Jonathan Miller, the U.S. Hemp Roundtable’s general counsel, in a statement reported by CNBC. “In effect, this is a total, all out, complete ban on hemp products in the United States.”

The law could also complicate workplace drug testing, taking away the justification of having used legal hemp, and not marijuana, for those failing a THC test. It is also likely to create conflict-of-law issues in states that have legalized hemp, where businesses would find themselves unable to follow state and federal law at the same time.

Congressional researchers recently said that “it remains unclear” how the federal government will enforce the new law.

“While the change to the hemp definition will seemingly alter the legal status of many hemp products currently available on the market, it remains unclear if and how federal law enforcement will enforce the new prohibitions when the new definition goes into effect,” the Congress Research Service said in an analysis published on Wednesday.