Nancy Mace Circulates Bill To Block Hemp THC Ban That Trump Signed Into Law
Federal Hemp THC Ban Spurs A Counteroffensive: The Year-Long Fight For The American Hemp Protection Act
The federal hemp THC ban landed like a brick through a greenhouse window—sudden, messy, and aimed at a market built in broad daylight. Tucked into a must-pass spending bill, Section 781 would treat any ingestible hemp product with a “quantifiable” trace of THC as contraband. That’s not a tweak. That’s a bulldozer. Into that dust cloud steps Rep. Nancy Mace with the American Hemp Protection Act of 2025, a terse answer to an aggressive move—designed to block the ban before it ignites next year. The stakes are big: the 2018 Farm Bill opened the gate to legal hemp, the CBD market grew up fast, and millions of Americans now fold these products into daily routines. This is where cannabis policy reform meets the hard math of livelihoods and legality, and the question is simple: regulate responsibly or scorch the earth?
Here’s the edge of the blade. Section 781 would redraw the legal hemp line for ingestibles so narrowly that 90–95 percent of products—yes, including most non-intoxicating CBD—would fall off the map. The Farm Bill’s 0.3 percent delta-9 THC threshold? Imagine swapping it with a zero-tolerance vibe for anything measurable. Consumers who use CBD for sleep, pain, or calm don’t follow Capitol Hill markups; they follow what works. Roughly one in five adults has used a hemp-derived product in the past year. And while intoxicating hemp cannabinoids like delta-8 deserve guardrails, smashing the entire shelf doesn’t make sense. The Midwest Hemp Council lifted the curtain with a little eyebrow-raise when word of the counter-move surfaced:
The vibe across the industry is the same—shock, then resolve. Farmers see fields. Small operators see payrolls. Consumers see routines. A blanket ban sees none of it.
Mace’s bill would stop the ban from taking effect—a tourniquet, not reconstructive surgery. In her remarks added to the Congressional Record, she warned that the new language would kneecap American hemp farmers, preempt state-level regulations, and hand an open lane to black-market actors. She promised a year of trench work to reverse course and build a safer, uniform model. Check the source for yourself: Congressional Record entry. Still, stakeholders worry: without an immediate regulatory framework, a simple repeal risks fueling the same chaos that invited the ban. That’s why bipartisan craftwork is reportedly underway to pair access with accountability. On the Hill, it echoes the pragmatic drumbeat we’re hearing from reformers across the aisle—see Cory Booker Will ‘Accept Any Progress’ On Marijuana, Saying There’s A ‘Common Purpose’ For Reform Across Parties. And at the state level, voters and courts keep moving the ball—just look at Florida Officials Advance Marijuana Legalization Initiative To Ballot Review After Being Sued Over Delay. The broader cannabis policy reform tide is rolling; the question is whether Congress swims with it or keeps throwing sandbags.
There’s a sane middle path that industry leaders have practically begged for since the first batch of neon delta-8 gummies hit convenience coolers. It looks like this: age-gated sales (21+), clear labels, child-resistant and non-mimic packaging, third-party lab testing, strict potency and conversion rules for intoxicating hemp cannabinoids, and a uniform national standard that doesn’t undercut what responsible states already police. Mace nods to most of that in her public comments. The blueprint isn’t rocket science—it’s consumer safety basics applied to a new aisle of the wellness market. And the collateral damage of a blunt ban isn’t theoretical. Vets warn that if CBD access constricts, companion animals lose a tool in the toolkit for pain and anxiety. For the fallout through an animal-health lens, see Pets Will ‘Suffer Needlessly’ If Federal Hemp Ban Takes Effect And Limits CBD Access, Veterinarian Says. In other words: regulate what can intoxicate; preserve access to what doesn’t; and make everyone prove it on the label and in the lab.
- What the American Hemp Protection Act does: blocks the federal hemp THC ban from taking effect next year.
- What it doesn’t do (yet): establish a comprehensive federal framework for intoxicating hemp derivatives, labeling, or testing.
- What the industry is asking for: 21+ sales, standardized packaging and labeling, third-party testing, and strict rules for converted cannabinoids.
- What happens without action: whiplash for farmers and brands; a vacuum that invites gray markets instead of protecting consumers.
Zoom out and you can feel the policy clash between prohibition impulses and precision regulation. On one side: a one-sentence fix that would snuff out legal hemp-derived products, including most CBD, in the name of “protecting kids.” On the other: a rules-based architecture that treats hemp like any adult-facing consumer product—verify age, verify contents, verify safety. States are already road-testing that model while Washington argues in circles. The culture is changing, fast. In Massachusetts, for instance, lawmakers are actively weighing a regulated path for entirely different compounds, a sign that drug policy is slowly trading moral panic for measurable outcomes—see Massachusetts Lawmakers Hold Hearing On Psychedelic Therapy Bills. If Congress takes the same grown-up approach to hemp—tighten the screws on bad actors, bring intoxicating cannabinoids under bright lights, and keep CBD accessible—we get consumer safety, market stability, and less nonsense. Until then, keep your wits, read the labels, and if you’re exploring legal hemp options, you can find them in our shop.
