Indiana Congressman Jim Baird has introduced legislation to delay the ban on hemp-derived THC products approved by the Senate last year, reported Forbes. Currently, the ban is set to go into effect in November of this year. The proposal would push the ban’s date to three years from its approval instead of one.
“Congress adopted the ban on hemp products such as delta-8 THC and THCA as part of an appropriations bill that ended the 2025 federal government shutdown in November. The provisions, which also change the definition of hemp under federal law, are scheduled to go into effect one year after passage of the funding bill. The hemp provisions of the appropriations bill ban products containing more than 0.4 milligrams of delta-9 THC per package. The legislation changes the definition of hemp as legalized by the 2018 Farm Bill, which allowed all products with no more than 0.3% delta-9 THC by dry weight,” the outlet wrote.
The two-page proposal states that “Section 781 of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agency Appropriations Act, 2026 is amended, in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking ‘365 days’ and inserting ‘3 years.’”
“Planting and growing crops requires planning well in advance,” Baird said in a press release on Tuesday. “Congress created a regulatory environment in the 2018 Farm Bill that allowed for certain investments, and farmers were operating within this environment. The hemp provision included in the Continuing Resolution and Appropriations bills passed in November 2025 disrupted planting decisions that had already been made.”
NACS has advocated for stronger regulation of intoxicating hemp products and is opposed to an outright ban. Such products represent a growing product category in parts of the country where state laws allow the products to be sold. NACS believes the convenience industry is the best channel for selling age-gated products and an appropriate regulatory scheme should continue to allow the products to be sold in this channel.
NACS will continue to advocate for sensible and responsible regulation which allows our industry to participate in the market.
For more information about what this ban might potentially mean for the industry, check out a recent NACS Daily op-ed by Melissa Vonder Haar: “OPINION: Closing the Hemp ‘Loophole’ Won’t Close the Problem.”
Intoxicating hemp beverages made a splash at the 2025 NACS Show, appearing in the Convenience Catalyst Showcase and dominating not just category discussions, but several Education Sessions and General Sessions. Read more about the battle to save intoxicating hemp beverages in the January 2026 issue of NACS Magazine article “Inside the Battle to Save Hemp Beverages.”