ASA Warns of ‘Access Crisis’ Ahead of 2026 Hemp Changes

Key Takeaways

- *The deadline:* Federal “total THC” standard changes are scheduled to
take effect on *November 11, 2026*.
- *The technical shift:* New statutory definitions in *H.R. 5371* will
close industrial hemp loopholes but also will remove many non-intoxicating,
full-spectrum medicines from the market.
- *At-risk groups:* Veterans, seniors, and patients with rare diseases
who rely on the hemp marketplace due to high costs in state-regulated
medical markets are most vulnerable.
- *The call to action:* ASA is urging governors to develop state-level
“transition strategies” rather than relying on federal rescheduling, which
cannot override statutory limits.

*WASHINGTON* — State leaders must prepare for a significant disruption in
cannabinoid medicine, according to a new report from Americans for Safe
Access (ASA). The report, Protecting Patient Access: A Compassionate
Response to Changing Federal Hemp Laws, warns new federal standards set to
become effective in November 2026 could inadvertently strip millions of
patients of access to full-spectrum hemp products.

In the absence of a comprehensive national medical cannabis framework, the
fallout once again will land on state leaders, the organization suggested.
Legislative fallout: closing loopholes, cutting access

The report, which functions as a policy briefing for governors, state
policy makers, and regulators was created in response to language added to
H.R. 5371, the Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legislative Branch,
Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Extensions Act of 2026. The
legislation establishes statutory definitions for “industrial hemp” and
“hemp-derived cannabinoid products” and imposes a new “total THC” standard.
Together, when they go into effect November 11, 2026, these clarifications
will close the “loophole” that allowed unregulated intoxicating products to
proliferate, but they will also remove most full-spectrum cannabinoid
products from lawful commerce.

“Americans for Safe Access has prepared this briefing to help state leaders
navigate this moment with clarity, accuracy, and compassion,” Executive
Director Steph Sherer said. “Effective responses must account not only for
patients currently dependent on the unregulated hemp marketplace, but also
for the conditions that made it their only viable option. Barriers such as
cost, access deserts, and limited product availability, driven by
competition for shelf space in adult-use markets, left patients with few
options.”
Vulnerable populations at risk

The briefing highlights who is most at risk. Seniors, veterans, people with
disabilities, cancer patients, and children with rare diseases have relied
on full-spectrum cannabinoid medicines from the hemp marketplace for years.
Many turned to hemp only after being pushed out of state medical cannabis
programs by cost, geography, clinical barriers, or shrinking product
options in adult-use markets.
The limits of federal executive action

The report dispels the misconception that President Trump’s executive order
or cannabis rescheduling will fix these access gaps. Executive action
cannot override statutory limits, and rescheduling alone does not legalize
medical cannabis or restore patient rights. Sherer said without state-level
transition strategies, millions of patients face losing medicines they use
to manage chronic pain, epilepsy, PTSD, cancer symptoms, and other serious
conditions when the new federal definitions take effect.

For more than thirty years, states served as laboratories of democracy for
medical cannabis. They built patient registries, safety standards, testing
regimes, labeling systems, and clinical pathways, generating the real-world
evidence that finally compelled the Department of Health and Human Services
and the Food and Drug Administration to recognize cannabis as having
“currently accepted medical use.”

These state-based experiments proved what federal policy refused to test,
Scherer said.

“Silence from state leaders today will mean suffering for patients
tomorrow,” she added.