Senate Rejects Attempt To Save Hemp Industry From THC Ban In Key Spending Bill
Hemp THC Ban Tightens: Senate Nixes Lifeline in Spending Bill
Hemp THC ban, front and center: the Senate just swatted down a last-ditch amendment to save the industry, choosing instead to keep a sweeping prohibition tucked into a must-pass spending bill. In a lopsided 78–22 move to table, lawmakers iced Sen. Rand Paul’s bid to strip out language that would hobble the hemp market that sprang to life after the 2018 Farm Bill. He warned the ban would “regulate the hemp industry to death,” trampling state frameworks, consumer choice, and farm livelihoods at the worst possible time. Sen. Jeff Merkley backed him up, saying Congress is about to bulldoze an industry it spent a decade building. It felt less like a vote and more like a shrug—one more fluorescent-lit decision on Capitol Hill that ripples out to barns, warehouses, and storefronts in every state that took hemp seriously.
Politics made the sauce hotter. Senate leaders pushed the spending package forward as a potential end to a grinding government shutdown, a hostage that turns every policy into leverage. Senate Appropriations Democrats flagged Paul’s proposal in advance and signaled no, thank you. Across the aisle, Sen. Mitch McConnell—who once ushered hemp into the light—argued that “loopholes” let intoxicating products flood the market, and that this clampdown protects kids while preserving farm hemp. The White House chimed in too, signaling support for the prohibition; for the blow-by-blow of that stance, see Trump ‘Supports’ Hemp THC Ban That’s Advancing In Senate, White House Says. Suddenly, a niche policy fight was a main course: a clean line between those who treat hemp as a farm commodity and those who see it as a backdoor to psychoactive products.
What the Ban Actually Does
Forget the old 0.3 percent delta-9 THC rule. The new regime would move to a total THC standard within a year—sweeping in delta-8 and other isomers, plus “any other cannabinoids” with similar effects, as later defined by federal health regulators. It doesn’t stop at chemistry. The measure would also prohibit intermediate hemp-derived cannabinoids sold to end users, and ban compounds synthesized or manufactured outside the plant or not naturally produced by it. Legal hemp products would face a razor-thin cap: up to 0.4 milligrams per container of total THC or any similarly acting cannabinoids. Within 90 days, FDA and partner agencies would have to publish lists of cannabinoids naturally produced by cannabis sativa and those with THC-like effects, creating a cookbook of what’s inbounds—and a blacklist of what’s not. If you’re in the business of blending extraction science with flavor and function, that’s a hard pivot from a vibrant, experimental space into a narrow, compliance-heavy corridor.
The Lobby Rumble: Booze, Brands, and Attorneys General
Outside the Senate chamber, the knives were out. Alcohol distributors and major brands are split: some insist hemp beverages and intoxicating hemp products are a lifeline as alcohol demand softens; others want Congress to slam the door until federal rules are in place. A heavyweight consumer trade coalition—the kind with household-name food and beverage companies—leaned in too, adding pressure to ban intoxicating hemp products outright. Meanwhile, 39 state and territory attorneys general urged Congress to clarify hemp’s federal definition and curb intoxicating cannabinoids. The chorus is loud, but it’s not in tune. Industry counsel warn the proposed scope is too blunt, kneecapping legitimate businesses while failing to deliver coherent safety standards—an argument you’ll see unpacked in Industry Lawyers Condemn ‘Overbroad’ And ‘Disastrous’ Congressional Push To Ban Hemp THC Products. And out in the fields, farmers who planted to the letter of the 2018 law are left to watch lawyers and lobbyists define their future in conference rooms.
What Comes Next—and Why It Matters
The spending bill, complete with the hemp THC ban, heads toward a final Senate vote and then the House. If it lands on the president’s desk as written, FDA will sprint to draw bright lines and the market will convulse. Some operators will pivot to non-intoxicating cannabinoids and fiber. Others will shutter. Expect lawsuits. Expect creativity too—this space doesn’t go quietly. Sen. Paul isn’t done; he’s floated alternatives, from studying successful state models to raising hemp’s THC ceiling in his HEMP Act. For the latest on the floor chess and resistance strategy, see Senate Advances Hemp Product Ban—But GOP Senator Has Last-Ditch Plan To Fight Back. And as Congress toggles between panic and policy, it’s worth remembering what evidence looks like; on adjacent questions of risk and regulation, fresh research continues to challenge reflexive crackdowns—just look at There’s No Reason To Increase The Legal Age For Marijuana Use To 25, New Scientific Paper Concludes. The cannabis map is messy; regulation should be clear-eyed, not reactionary. If you care about where this all lands—and want to explore compliant, high-quality options while it does—visit our shop: https://thcaorder.com/shop/.
