Federal protections for hemp-derived THC safe – for now

Hemp interests celebrated Monday after the latest Republican-led effort to dismantle federal protections for hemp-derived THC products unraveled in the U.S. Senate late last week.

However, former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell vowed that an ongoing quest to close a loophole in the 2018 Farm Bill and criminalize intoxicating hemp products isn’t over yet.

Since June, House and Senate Republicans have pushed language that would have redefined hemp under federal law to outlaw most products containing hemp-derived THC.

It’s the culmination of prior, bipartisan recognition that the Farm Bill wasn’t intended to unleash a host of intoxicating hemp-derived products across the country, including hemp-derived THC drinks, gummies and THCA flower.

In response, the version of the fiscal 2026 Senate Agricultural Appropriations Bill that passed a key committee in mid-July proposed separate definitions for “industrial hemp” and “hemp-derived cannabinoid products.”

It also clarified that total cannabinoid content must account for tetrahydrocannabinolic acid – an oversight in the 2018 Farm Bill that some hemp operators use to justify sales of THCA flower.

But on Friday, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, amended the full Senate version of that spending bill to remove the hemp redefinition.

Paul’s move to strike this offending language was part of a flurry of last-minute tweaks accepted en bloc, or all at once, by Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who chairs the Appropriations Committee.

The subsequently amended Senate Agricultural Appropriations Act passed the Senate on an 87-9 vote.

In a statement Monday, Jonathan Miller, general counsel to the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, called the development “a huge win for everyone.”

However, it’s unclear whether the victory is final or merely another temporary reprieve.

McConnell, who signed the Senate version of the 2018 Farm Bill with a hemp pen, said Friday that legalizing products with intoxicating levels of THC was not “the original intent” of the 2018 Farm Bill.

McConnell claimed that hemp-derived products “stronger than marijuana” are marketed in packaging attractive to children.

And he appeared to directly critique Paul during his floor remarks.

The hemp-derived THC ban “language would have remained in the appropriations package had one senator not derailed the process,” he said.

However, because the overall spending package funds a host of federal programs, “I allowed my language to be stripped from the bill,” he added.

“But my effort to root out bad actors, protect our children and reaffirm our original legislative intent will continue.”

Paul is a libertarian who recently reintroduced a proposal that would triple the amount of THC allowed in hemp under federal law from 0.3% to 1%.

The likelihood that that will be heard appears slim.

Meanwhile, the hemp-derived THC ban language remains in the House of Representatives, though all House business is on pause for the August recess.

According to the Hemp Roundtable, 87% of the hemp grown in Kentucky ends up in hemp-derived THC products.

Absent action in Washington, many states across the country are pushing regulations or bans of their own on hemp-derived THC.

These include states with active legal cannabis sectors such as California, which banned hemp-derived THC products last fall, as well as Texas, where legal marijuana remains a distant dream.