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Will the hemp industry go up in smoke?
Hemp has quietly become big business in Raleigh. Skyrocketing in popularity over the past few years, THC- and CBD-derived products are now commonplace in restaurants, bars and grocery stores. But that boom could come to a crashing halt as soon as Nov. 12—potentially toppling a multibillion-dollar industry—thanks to last-minute language slipped into a highly publicized, must-pass federal spending bill to reopen the government.
Effectively eliminating most hemp products on shelves today, the ban outlaws any product containing more than 0.4 milligrams of THC per package—a trace amount found in nearly all hemp goods. Read: not just beverages and gummies, but full-spectrum CBD products including joint-pain remedies and antiseizure treatments. In practice, the law would all but oust 99% of hemp products in today’s market (barring any delay or reversal).
Having ballooned into a $28B industry in the U.S. employing 300,000 people, the market traces its rapid rise to the 2018 Farm Bill, which defined hemp-derived cannabis products as goods containing no more than 0.3% delta-9 THC by dry weight—not by milligrams. That distinction created a loophole allowing products with psychoactive and pharmacological effects to remain technically legal.
For business owners, manufacturers and farmers who invested in this framework, there may be no viable way to reformulate and yield the same desired buzz. The new law targets the “weight-based” definition outright, and the allowed 0.4 milligrams of THC isn’t enough to produce any kind of psychoactive effect, notes Reilly Dunn, owner of popular local THC bev biz Groovewagon. “There is no plan B,” he tells RM. “The alternative is do something about it or bust. I have four kids and if this ban goes through, it’s gonna be bad.”
Efforts to undo—or at least delay—the ban are underway, and the U.S. Hemp Roundtable’s General Counsel Jonathan Miller is “cautiously optimistic. … We’re trying to get an extension of that moratorium,” Miller tells RM. “There’s a lot of work that needs to be done to develop a regulatory framework to replace the ban.”
Many industry advocates note the lack of regulation initially fueled the crackdown—primary bill sponsor Sen. Mitch McConnell cited concerns about children accessing “appealing snack and candy-like products in familiar packaging.”
Adds Trophy Brewing co-owner Les Stewart: “The failure of states to actually achieve legislative controls around these products resulted in a lot of motivation around the ban—including NC, which failed to regulate as recently as last year.”
Ultimately, the legislation was a temporary fix—Congress must pass another funding bill at the end of January, creating what industry advocates see as a critical window for change. Bipartisan efforts are underway, with lawmakers from Nancy Mace (R-SC) to Ron Wyden (D-OR) introducing bills to preserve the industry.
Despite the looming fallout, Dunn welcomes the broader conversation the ban sparked. “We’re optimistic about all of this energy,” he emphasizes. “We want to harness that so folks are not only worried about it, but are showing up and doing something about it.” The clock is ticking, but, for now, the hemp industry isn’t flying the white flag yet.
*As of press time
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