Congressional Deal Would Ban Many Hemp THC Products, While Excluding Provisions To Let VA Doctors Recommend Medical Marijuana

Newly released spending legislation negotiated by congressional leaders
would federally recriminalize many hemp-derived products. It also excludes
provisions previously passed by the House and Senate that would have
allowed Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) doctors to begin issuing
medical marijuana recommendations to their patients.

The new measure, if enacted into law, would ban certain hemp products that
were legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill signed into law by President Donald
Trump during his first term.

The negotiated bill “prevents the unregulated sale of intoxicating
hemp-based or hemp-derived products, including Delta-8, from being sold
online, in gas stations, and corner stores, while preserving
non-intoxicating CBD and industrial hemp products,” a summary published on
Sunday by the Senate Appropriations Committee says.

Under current law, cannabis products are considered legal hemp if they
contain less than 0.3 percent delta-9 THC on a dry weight basis.

The new legislation specifies that, within one year of enactment, the
weight would apply to total THC—including delta-8 and other isomers. It
would also include “any other cannabinoids that have similar effects (or
are marketed to have similar effects) on humans or animals as a
tetrahydrocannabinol (as determined by the Secretary of Health and Human
Services).”

The new definition of legal hemp would additionally ban “any intermediate
hemp-derived cannabinoid products which are marketed or sold as a final
product or directly to an end consumer for personal or household use” as
well as products containing cannabinoids that are synthesized or
manufactured outside of the cannabis plant or not capable of being
naturally produced by it.

Legal hemp products would be limited to a total of .4 milligrams of total
THC or any other cannabinoids with similar effects.

Within 90 days of the bill’s enactment, the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) and other agencies would need to publish list of “all cannabinoids
known to FDA to be capable of being naturally produced by a Cannabis sativa
L. plant, as reflected in peer reviewed literature,” “all
tetrahydrocannabinol class cannabinoids known to the agency to be naturally
occurring in the plant” and “all other know cannabinoids with similar
effects to, or marketed to have similar effects to, tetrahyrocannabinol
class cannabinoids.”

The deal was agreed to by Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan
Collins (R-ME) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), the ranking minority member on
the panel, as well as House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-OK).
But Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), the top Democrat on the House panel, did not
sign off.

The language slightly differs from provisions included in legislation that
had previously advanced out of the House and Senate Appropriations panels,
which would have banned products containing any “quantifiable” amount of
THC, to be determined by the HHS secretary and secretary of agriculture.

Jim Higdon, co-founder of the company Cornbread Hemp, said the Senate
Appropriations Committee’s summary describing the bill as preserving the
legality of non-intoxicating CBD products is a “lie.”

The “0.4mg limit will make 100 percent of Cornbread Hemp products illegal,
including our full spectrum CBD products, topical CBD products, and even
CBD oils,” he told Marijuana Moment, suggesting that the language was
included at the behest of the alcohol industry, which he said does not want
to compete with hemp-derived THC beverages.

The legislation will “kill the $30 billion hemp industry and the 400,000
jobs that go along with it,” Higdon said in a separate press release. “This
is a dark day for anyone who hopes for a future when cannabis is
descheduled in America. If we can’t keep full spectrum CBD products legal,
then future of cannabis reform seems even more distant with an emboldened
alcohol industry that now has a proven playbook for killing cannabis.”

But Chris Lindsey, director of state advocacy and public policy, for the
American Trade Association of Cannabis and Hemp (ATACH), said that his
group supports the language, calling it a “critical step to clarify
Congress’s intent in the 2018 Farm Bill.”

“Willful misinterpretation of the Farm Bill led to the proliferation of
unregulated synthetic THC products widely available for sale to minors,” he
argued. “The bill clearly distinguishes between intoxicating and
nonintoxicating products, synthetic and natural products, and industrial
and consumer products. These distinctions create regulatory lanes for
hemp-derived products and address perceived loopholes.”

Luke Niforatos, executive vice president of the prohibitionist organization
Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) also cheered the ban.

“This is a titanic victory for public health, safety, and, importantly,
children across America harmed by these dangerous drugs,” he said in a post
on X.
Veterans Medical Cannabis Provisions Left Out Of Bill

Separately, the newly released appropriations legislation excludes language
that had been passed by either chamber earlier this year to let VA doctors
recommend medical cannabis to their military veteran patients in states
where it is legal.

The House and Senate adopted slightly different provisions on the issue.

*Here’s the text of the House version: *

“None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the
Department of Veterans Affairs in this Act may be used to enforce Veterans
Health Directive 1315 as it relates to—

(1) the policy stating that ‘VHA providers are prohibited from completing
forms or registering Veterans for participation in a State-approved
marijuana program’;

(2) the directive for the ‘Deputy Under Secretary for Health for Operations
and Management’ to ensure that ‘medical facility Directors are aware that
it is VHA policy for providers to assess Veteran use of marijuana but
providers are prohibited from recommending, making referrals to or
completing paperwork for Veteran participation in State marijuana
programs’; and

(3) the directive for the ‘VA Medical Facility Director’ to ensure that ‘VA
facility staff are aware of the following’ ‘[t]he prohibition recommending,
making referrals to or completing forms and registering Veterans for
participation in State-approved marijuana programs’.”

*The Senate language reads:*

“None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the
Department of Veterans Affairs in this Act may be used in a manner that
would—

(1) interfere with the ability of a veteran to participate in a medicinal
marijuana program approved by a State;

(2) deny any services from the Department to a veteran who is participating
in such a program; or

(3) limit or interfere with the ability of a health care provider of the
Department to make appropriate recommendations, fill out forms, or take
steps to comply with such a program.”

The negotiated bill released on Sunday contains no language on the issue at
all.

In past years, both the House and Senate had included provisions in their
respective MilConVA measures that would permit VA doctors to make the
medical cannabis recommendations, but they have never been enacted into law.

The new appropriations legislation is part of a three-bill package to fund
various federal agencies for Fiscal Year 2026. It is expected to be
considered in the Senate soon, along with a continuing resolution covering
other agencies, which together would end the ongoing government shutdown if
passed by both chambers and signed into law by Trump.

The post Congressional Deal Would Ban Many Hemp THC Products, While
Excluding Provisions To Let VA Doctors Recommend Medical Marijuana appeared
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