Rep. Morgan Griffith wants to beat a clock that Congress itself set. The Virginia Republican unveiled a plan Monday to attach hemp regulatory legislation to a reconciliation package during the post-midterm lame-duck session, hoping to head off a federal ban on intoxicating hemp products scheduled to take effect Dec. 11. The maneuver would let Griffith sidestep a Senate filibuster, since reconciliation bills need only a simple majority to pass.
A Farm Bill Loophole Comes Due
The underlying fight traces back to the 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized hemp but left cannabinoid potency limits vague enough that delta-8 gummies, HHC vapes and similar products spread into gas stations, smoke shops and convenience stores nationwide. The ban language - originally tucked into a November 2025 appropriations package that ended a 43-day government shutdown - would criminalize hemp products containing more than 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container, along with synthetic or otherwise unnatural cannabinoids. That's a hard line, and for retailers who built entire category sets around these SKUs, it's an existential one. The Senate already bought four extra weeks in August with a 61-32 vote, pushing the deadline from Nov. 12 to Dec. 11 - a signal that appetite exists for something other than outright prohibition.
What Griffith's Bill Would Actually Do
Griffith and Rep. Marc Veasey introduced the HEMP Act back in January, aiming to build a federal regulatory framework rather than a ban. The bill would cap intoxicating cannabinoids at 5 milligrams per serving and 30 milligrams per package for buyers 21 and older, with the FDA stepping in only if it continues declining to regulate on its own. Griffith's reasoning is blunt: prohibition doesn't actually stop sales, it just pushes them underground and strips out the age-gating and third-party lab testing that give consumers any real safety net. "If you're going to look at it from a federal level, I don't think we can stop it," he told reporters. Separately, the Beverage Regulatory Parity Act from Reps. Beth Van Duyne and Greg Landsman would borrow alcohol's three-tiered distribution model - manufacturer, wholesaler, retailer - for hemp drinks capped at 5 milligrams of THC per 12-ounce serving or 750-milliliter container.
Two Industries, One Plant, Opposing Interests
Here's the catch: this isn't a clean hemp-versus-prohibition fight. It's licensed marijuana operators against unregulated hemp sellers, and both sides consider themselves the responsible party. States like Texas ban adult-use cannabis outright and cap medical THC doses at 10 milligrams per unit, yet have watched an intoxicating hemp market reportedly reach $4.3 billion - larger, by some estimates, than California's entire regulated adult-use sector. For operators who absorb 280E tax burdens, METRC seed-to-sale tracking costs, compliant packaging requirements and state excise taxes, watching untaxed, lightly tested hemp products undercut their wholesale pricing is not a minor grievance. Groups like the U.S. Cannabis Roundtable and the American Trade Association for Cannabis and Hemp have lobbied hard against the regulation-over-prohibition approach, calling the current setup a loophole that "empowers bad actors" and undermines state licensing systems. The Marijuana Policy Project, by contrast, is urging supporters to back regulation over recriminalizing a plant it spent decades fighting to destigmatize.
What Operators and Suppliers Should Watch
For dispensary owners, multi-state operators and hemp beverage brands alike, the next few weeks matter more than any single quarter of sales data. A reconciliation vehicle moves fast and offers little room for amendment fights, so whatever framework survives - a THC milligram cap, an age-verification mandate, a tiered distribution system - will likely stick with minimal negotiation. Retailers carrying hemp-derived products should expect tighter labeling and lab-testing requirements regardless of outcome, and payment processors and point-of-sale vendors serving both hemp and licensed cannabis channels should prepare for compliance logic that diverges further by category and by state.
