Editor’s Note: This story includes remarks from a national webinar hosted by the Hemp Industry & Farmers of America (HIFA) on Friday, November 8, 2025, before Senator Mitch McConnell’s hemp amendment was inserted into the government funding package over the weekend. The comments reflect the industry’s final warning before the language appeared in the bill.
An amendment in Washington threatens to finish what Virginia’s patchwork cannabis laws started.
For years, Virginia’s hemp growers and shop owners have been fighting for survival, first against confusing state regulations, then against inconsistent enforcement. Now they may face their biggest threat yet, and it came straight from Washington over the weekend.
Tucked deep inside the Senate’s latest government funding proposal is a provision pushed by Senator Mitch McConnell that would rewrite the legal definition of hemp and ban many of the products that built Virginia’s hemp economy. The measure, which McConnell says is meant to “close loopholes” from the 2018 Farm Bill, would expand the definition of hemp to include total THC, not just delta-9 THC, the intoxicating compound in marijuana.
That single change could wipe out an entire class of products derived from hemp: delta-8, delta-10, THCA, and full-spectrum CBD among them. Anything that exceeds 0.4 milligrams of total THC, or produces similar psychoactive effects, would fall outside the legal definition of hemp.
The “loophole” that became an industry
McConnell’s proposal would ban “any intermediate hemp-derived cannabinoid products marketed or sold as a final product or directly to an end consumer for personal or household use,” according to draft language obtained by Marijuana Moment. In practice, that would remove from the market a wide range of hemp-derived items currently sold in gas stations, smoke shops, and online including gummies, vapes, tinctures, and infused beverages made with compounds like delta-8 THC, delta-10, and THCA.
The amendment would also redefine “hemp” to include “total THC”, not just delta-9 THC, meaning the limit would apply to all cannabinoids with similar intoxicating effects. Under this rule, legal hemp would contain no more than 0.4 milligrams of total THC or comparable cannabinoids per gram, a stricter standard than the 0.3% delta-9 THC threshold established under the 2018 Farm Bill.
Within 90 days of enactment, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other federal agencies would be required to publish a list of all cannabinoids naturally produced by Cannabis sativa L., as well as tetrahydrocannabinol-class compounds and any other cannabinoids known to have THC-like effects on humans or animals. That information would form the basis for federal enforcement and future testing requirements.
Supporters of the measure, including McConnell, argue that it would close an unintended loophole in the 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized hemp but allowed for the sale of intoxicating hemp-derived products with little oversight. McConnell has said the intent of the original law was to promote industrial hemp and non-intoxicating CBD, not synthetic or psychoactive derivatives.
However, hemp industry advocates say the proposal would go far beyond fixing a loophole. Trade associations and small business owners warn that the “total THC” cap could effectively eliminate much of the $30 billion hemp market and jeopardize an estimated 400,000 jobs nationwide. They argue that the new definition could sweep up non-intoxicating products like full-spectrum CBD oils, wellness tinctures, and topical creams, since trace cannabinoids naturally occur in those formulations.
Politics and pressure
The hemp provision is buried inside a larger compromise deal to reopen the federal government, meaning its future now hinges on broader negotiations over spending, health-care subsidies, and other high-stakes issues.
Last Friday, before the amendment was slipped into the package, the Hemp Industry & Farmers of America (HIFA) held a national webinar urging producers to flood congressional offices with calls, letters, and social posts opposing the McConnell language. “The next 72 hours are crucial,” said Dwayne Carson of Carson Consulting, who previously served as Senior Director of Federal Affairs for the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA). Carson noted that hemp had become “the third most talked-about issue on Capitol Hill” behind the shutdown and healthcare tax credits. At that point, industry leaders still believed they could keep the language out of the bill, a hope that evaporated when McConnell’s “total THC” definition surfaced in the Senate’s version over the weekend.
During the call, HIFA leaders outlined their stance: no negotiation until Congress adopts the “basics”, a 21+ age requirement, a ban on marketing to minors, clear labeling, and mandatory third-party lab testing. “If we take our foot off the gas and assume we’re good, we’re done,” said HIFA’s Brian Swensen, calling the fight a “grassroots play” that depends on small businesses mobilizing locally.
But McConnell’s language has already become a flashpoint. Progressive Democrats and even some Republicans have balked at the idea of tying a nationwide hemp restriction to unrelated budget legislation. Critics say it deserves its own debate, not a quiet insertion into a must-pass bill.
Among Republicans, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has broken ranks with McConnell, siding with hemp farmers and industry advocates who warn that redefining “hemp” to include total THC would devastate small producers. Paul, who co-authored earlier hemp-legalization measures, has said that the proposed ban “goes too far” and would punish legitimate businesses that followed the 2018 Farm Bill’s rules. He’s called instead for clearer labeling standards and product-safety testing rather than blanket prohibition. You can see his amendment HERE.
If McConnell’s language remains in the final package, Virginia’s congressional delegation will soon have to take a side. Both Sen. Tim Kaine and Sen. Mark Warner have previously supported Virginia’s hemp and agricultural producers including efforts to expand access to banking for legal cannabis businesses and strengthen federal support for hemp cultivation. In this debate, however, Kaine has aligned himself with the compromise to reopen the government, while Warner remains focused on securing long-term stability for federal workers and health-care funding.
The bigger picture
The fight over hemp has become a fight over who gets to define the future of cannabis in America. Small businesses argue they’ve played by the rules, building an industry around wellness, not intoxication. Policymakers argue the rules themselves were flawed from the start.
Industry advocates say this isn’t just about cannabinoids, it’s about power. In Friday’s HIFA webinar, leaders warned that prohibitionists like McConnell and Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland were preparing to “hijack” the must-pass appropriations bill, a prediction that turned out to be exactly right.
If McConnell’s amendment becomes law, the U.S. will move closer to a single, federally controlled framework for cannabis, one that favors big agriculture, big pharma, and established multistate operators over local farmers and independent retailers.
For Virginia, that means another chapter in a story that has already become familiar: opportunity, regulation, consolidation, and a shrinking space for the people who helped build the movement in the first place.
Photo by R. Anthony Harris
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