Hemp THC Regulations Under Threat as US Ban Clock Ticks Down

A growing coalition of alcohol industry heavyweights and former legislators is pressing Washington hard. They want sensible hemp THC regulations, not an outright federal ban. Their warning is blunt: prohibition will not kill demand. It will simply push it underground.

President Donald Trump signed spending legislation last year that changes everything. Come November, it will recriminalise most hemp-derived THC products. That includes cannabinoid beverages, which consumers now routinely pick up alongside wine and beer in shops across the United States.

Trone Raises the Stakes at Las Vegas Summit

The Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) held its Access LIVE 2026 event in Las Vegas recently. It drew top players from both the cannabis and alcohol markets. Former Democratic Congressman David Trone, who owns the major retail chain Total Wine and More, used the platform to argue firmly for regulation over prohibition.

“This is now an adult beverage category, whether it’s a beer tonight or a glass of wine or an adult hemp beverage,” Trone told attendees.

He warned that abandoning hemp THC regulations in favour of recriminalisation would create “an underground economy.” His preferred fix is an FDA-approved three-tier structure — the same producer, distributor, and retailer model that already governs conventional alcohol. The FDA, he argued, must sit at the centre of any workable hemp cannabinoid policy. Consumers deserve to know that what is on the label is what is in the can.

Industry Leaders Demand Hemp Cannabinoid Policy Before Summer Recess

Charlie Merinoff, founder of Breakthru Beverage Group, did not mince his words either. “The clock is ticking,” he said. “We’ve got to get it done by the summer recess or it’s not getting done. You cannot put the genie back into the bottle. This is out there. The consumer wants it. What we need is regulation, not prohibition.”

WSWA was among the first trade bodies to call on Congress to pull back the most damaging provisions of the incoming law. The association proposed keeping naturally derived cannabinoids legal and targeting only synthetic items. That distinction matters enormously to farmers and retailers who built businesses under the 2018 rules.

In January, a wider coalition of major alcohol retailers joined the push. They urged Congress to delay the federal recriminalisation of hemp-derived THC beverages. The group wants hemp drinks to fall under the same hemp cannabinoid policy framework as beverage alcohol, delivering safe, transparent access for consumers.

What the Law Actually Changes

The 2018 Farm Bill set the legal limit for hemp at 0.3 per cent delta-9 THC on a dry weight basis. The incoming law tears that standard apart.

Within one year of enactment, the cap applies to total THC. That sweeps in delta-8 and other isomers previously considered compliant. The law also captures cannabinoids marketed to produce similar effects to THC, even if they do not appear on a defined list. On top of that, it bans intermediate hemp-derived cannabinoid products sold directly to consumers, as well as any cannabinoids produced outside the cannabis plant.

The new ceiling for legal hemp products stands at just 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container. That figure would remove most products currently on shelves. The hemp CBD and cannabinoid beverage sector now generates an estimated multi-billion dollars annually in the United States and supports tens of thousands of jobs. A blunt federal ban puts all of that at risk.

The law also required the FDA to publish, within 90 days of enactment, a full list of cannabinoids that naturally occur in the cannabis plant. The agency missed that deadline. A spokesperson confirmed the lists would appear in the Federal Register but gave no date.

Bipartisan Worry Over the Hemp Cannabinoid Policy Vacuum

Concern about the ban reaches across both parties. Republican Representative James Comer of Kentucky and the state’s Agriculture Commissioner Jonathan Shell wrote to former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell last month. They urged him to back a temporary delay to the recriminalisation, arguing the current hemp cannabinoid policy trajectory would devastate Kentucky’s farm economy.

The irony cuts deep. McConnell championed hemp legalisation in 2018 as a lifeline for Kentucky farmers. He now supports unwinding the THC market that grew from his own legislation. He calls it an unintended consequence, but farmers and retailers built real businesses on the back of those rules.

Republican Representative Jim Baird of Indiana tried to attach a one-year implementation delay to the 2026 Farm Bill before a scheduled committee markup. The panel’s chairman ruled the amendment not germane. A vote looks unlikely. Baird also filed standalone legislation seeking a two-year pause, giving industry and regulators more time to shape workable hemp THC regulations.

The Case for Hemp THC Regulations Over a Federal Crackdown

Anyone who looks at this debate through a public health lens knows the real question is not whether people will access these products. It is who controls them and under what conditions.

An unregulated market gives consumers nothing to rely on. Labelling cannot be trusted, potency goes unverified, and age controls simply do not exist. Research consistently shows that young people find it easier to access unregulated substances than legal ones sold through accountable channels. That is a documented pattern across multiple substances and multiple countries.

Proper hemp THC regulations, built on the alcohol framework, bring age restrictions, accurate labelling, and responsible serving standards. In 2023, studies found that unregulated cannabinoid products commonly contained significantly different THC levels than their labels claimed, sometimes far exceeding stated amounts. That is the reality a ban accelerates.

The coming months will show whether legislators choose evidence over instinct. A considered hemp cannabinoid policy built on transparency and accountability can protect people far better than prohibition ever has.

Source: marijuanamoment