• Posted November 18, 2025

New Law Tightens Hemp Regulations, Threatening 300,000 Jobs

A major change to hemp rules is now the law and producers warn it could shut down much of the $28 billion industry.

Congress, last week, approved strict new limits on hemp-derived products as part of the bill President Donald Trump signed to end the long government shutdown.

The goal? To close a loophole that allowed companies to sell unregulated food and drinks containing psychoactive compounds made from hemp.

The new rules tighten how much THC — the chemical in cannabis that causes a high — a hemp product can contain.

Hemp was legalized in the 2018 farm bill and must have no more than 0.3% THC by dry weight.

But lawmakers say companies are using legal hemp to extract its THC and make stronger products, including drinks, gummies and vapes that act like marijuana.

“Unfortunately, companies … [take] legal amounts of THC from hemp and [turn] it into intoxicating substances,” Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said on the Senate floor.

He said some of these products are sold in “candy-like packaging” and in gas stations, where children can easily access them.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has also warned about delta-8 THC (the psychoactive ingredient in hemp) products being marketed for medical use despite lacking approval.

According to The Washington Post, the new restrictions:

• Keep the 0.3% THC limit for all hemp-derived cannabinoid products

• Ban cannabinoids that do not naturally occur in hemp or are chemically altered

• Outlaw any hemp product with more than 0.4 milligrams of total THC or similar intoxicating compounds

But some hemp farmers and CBD producers say the restrictions will harm businesses that make nonintoxicating products.

"Every hemp seed in the country will have to be destroyed," Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, who opposed the plan, said.

"This is the most thoughtless, ignorant proposal to an industry that I’ve seen in a long, long time," he added.

The U.S. Hemp Roundtable, an industry group, said the changes threaten "to eliminate America’s $28.4 billion hemp industry and jeopardizes more than 300,000 American jobs."

They estimate that 95% of products could disappear and that states could lose $1.5 billion in tax revenue.

CBD producers argued that many popular CBD products, which contain small, non-intoxicating amounts of THC, would no longer meet the new limits. CBD is widely used for pain, anxiety and sleep.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has previously said it has low potential for abuse.

Some in the marijuana industry support the changes, noting the new law draws a clear line between intoxicating and non-intoxicating products.

Farmers like Paul Murdoch of Oregon say the law will shut down operations that rely on legal CBD.

"CBD has been a lifesaver for me and for many others," he said. "After a serious injury, I found CBD as a pain mitigant to replace opioids. Many others rely on it for a variety of issues, none involving any intoxication. And that may go away."

More information

The National Institutes of Health has more on tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

SOURCE: The Washington Post, Nov. 13, 2025