Government Spending Bill, Congress + A Potential Hemp Ban Delay

Members Lounge Cannabis News
1

Forbes reporting that over the last week or so the Senate have introduced a plan to delay the implementation of the so called ‘hemp ban’ (due to take effect Nov 12th or 13th… no one really knows) by a month.

Welcome news for the industry if successful, as it would allow the Hemp Roundtable and other advocates to push for a proper regulatory framework in advance of the following funding deadline in December. I’d imagine such a framework would protect seeds long term.

No doubt there was unintended effects of the 2018 farm bill with gas station THCA drinks and the like, but at the same time I don’t think we should apply the same regulatory framework (or blanket ban for that matter) to such a wide and varying range products that come under the label ‘intoxicating hemp’.

Either way it’s gonna be interesting to see how this one plays out - deadline to pass the funding bill is the end of September and we should expect the odd twist and turn along the way …

14 Likes
2

Last i heard thru the bill only push it back til December until they can fight for more regulation standards :grin::sign_of_the_horns::sign_of_the_horns:

11 Likes
3

Do not be fooled with this bullshit trick. This is nothing but a ploy to shut everyone up.

The cannabis industry has found out that its base is very hard to motivate and speak. We still have a long way to go in prohibition and this is just a way to look like they will delay it to take some steam out of the money being directed towards education and political activism on the cannabis front.

It has been several years since Ohio went medical and then adult use.
Taxes on it have doubled but the reality is that good pot at a reasonable cost is still hard to find.
It seems that when you tie a product to a certain tax base the natural instinct of Government is to squeeze the tube till it’s empty. A scheme was inacted to track cannabis users in a database and is still required when purchasing at a state dispensary.
This ain’t freedom.
Some want it banned. Some want it so heavily taxed street becomes a thing again.
And some people just do not think it is the governments business.
I know we need incremental change but any stem backwards is a loss.
At the least call your congresscritter and tell them to support the elimination of federal over site of Hemp and any legaslation that does so.

10 Likes
4

Good Morning Cra Cra… Yes, I heard this too. All the reading I’ve done and in talking with Hemp Places that sell ThcA this is really only effecting that catagory. To @Pothead64 's comment it is the way for the goverment to get their cut of the money. When the 2018 Farm bill wen into existance, they allowed ThcA flower to fall through the cracks and thousand of hemp farms popped up and began selling high ThcA flower. I buy from a place in NC called WNC and their shit is better good. The nice thing about this flower, is it’s “federally” legal and state where weed is not, people can order it on line and have it ship right to their front door without any issues.

The 2018 Farm Bill says that to be federally legal it must not contain more than 0.3% THC on a dry matter basis), however once decarb, it automatically converts to THC and has a much higher content. The politicians figured this out and in my opinion, realized… HEY…were not get the BIG taxes on this and we need to close this gag in the farm bill. Again in my opinion, it looks as if Big Brother wants these farms to be come “dispensary” so the government can tax the shit out of it.

5 Likes
5

There’s not going to be any form of the government supporting the cannabis industry that doesn’t line their pockets. It’s almost delusional to expect any different at this point and you can thank everyone that knew their state legislation was garbage but supported anyway because “it was better than nothing”.

11 Likes
6

Yup exactly why they want to fix this “loophole” in the 2018 farm bill… Cannabis is not lining their pockets.

7 Likes
7

Here is the difference between states with a " functioning " cannabis dispensary system and a prohibition state.

Both Ohio and South Carolina had the rush of THC A everything under the sun.
Ohio has a cannabis dispensary system. THC a eats thier lunch. Thca is banned in Ohio.
South Carolina has no functioning dispensary system but they have shops selling thca everything under the sun.
There is no monetary reason to address it so they are waiting on busybodies that have no life and want to stop everyone else from having a good life.

5 Likes
8

The goal should be for decriminalization in place of either of these.

8 Likes
9

Good (and frustrating, sad) article to read:

6 Likes
10

Yeah exactly. Senate passed it with the delay over the weekend, still needs to be passed through the House and even still its only a delay. But another month to work out a proper regulatory fix feels slightly more optimistic, at least for the moment

6 Likes
11

Yeah - I’m pretty amazed at the lack of lobbying from the industry as a whole right now. Or maybe we’re just not seeing it, but for such a huge change I’d expect a bit more pushback. At the moment it all feels a bit quiet.

Interesting point re the taxes. I mean it’s one of the biggest reasons for legalization on the one hand, on the other rinsing everyone dry and using it as a way to collect data is a bit dystopian. I was in NYC recently and, anecdotally, the dispensary stuff seemed noticeably cheaper to when I was there a year, or two years prior

7 Likes
12

Great read, thanks for sharing. Always find it weird in Texas how you can walk down the road and buy a load of strong thca flower (not complaining, but felt like a matter of time before they did something about it). Author is correct that unless the industry can properly organize itself then there’s not much of a chance. Feel sorry for the folks I know there with dispensaries etc… must be virtually impossible to plan for anything in the current climate

6 Likes
13

I’m having trouble understanding the farm bill. It seems like there could be something dreadful going on.

I use 2 seed banks (ILGM and one other). If you go into the fine print of each both say cannabis seeds are classified as hemp, which makes it legal to ship. I sent email to both of them asking if they will still be able to ship after Nov 12, and they sent me identical replies, word for word. I suspect some industry lawyer wrote it for them. And they didn’t really answer my question, they just said there was no current disruption to their business. That just made me think there really is something to worry about. Another explanation, I guess, is that both companies outsource customer support to a single vendor. Or maybe the companies are related in some way and share customer service. Does ILGM have a parent company or subsidiary which is also a very large seed bank?

I assume they will stay in business after Nov 12, but possibly not in the U.S. Are the experts on this forum stocking up or assuming something will work out? I’ve been keeping extra seeds in a vacuum jar in my freezer. Perhaps I should make an effort to plan for this? Should I stock up the next time I see a great coupon? I think seeds will last a very long time stored this way.

If this really is a big deal there must be a long discussion about it somewhere on the forum, but I can’t find it.

4 Likes
14

I really wouldn’t stress seeds will always get sold might just have to buy a shirt or cd to get them​:rofl::rofl: @stcapt

3 Likes
15

:+1:
If the thc/seed ban goes into effect as-is on December 11th (after the 29-day delay from November 12th), then the vast majority of hemp/full-spectrum cbd products and cannabis seeds will be Federally illegal and thus illegal to ship across state lines, and of course with many other big, unfortunate consequences for usa growers, patients, and businesses.

It’s so backwards and overreaching.

“EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Section 781(1)(C)(i) of the FY2026 Agriculture Appropriations Act (P.L. 119-37), enacted November 12,
2025 and effective November 12, 2026, redefines cannabis seed compliance based on the THC content
of the parent plant, causing affected seed to fall within the CSA’s definition of marihuana — a Schedule I
controlled substance — and subjecting it to DEA destruction mandates and federal trafficking liability.
For the first time in U.S. hemp law, a seed’s legal status is determined not by what it is, but by where it
came from. The provision imposes a compliance standard with no specified testing protocol, no
specified responsible party, and no transition pathway for material already in lawful commerce. [1]”

"What’s at stake on November 12, 2026:
• A $49.7 million U.S. hemp seed market will begin operating against a compliance standard that
cannot be met, bringing seeds under DEA jurisdiction. [6]
• Seed businesses will lose jobs, markets, and access to financial and shipping services.
• Businesses and research institutions with lawful seeds acquired between 2018 and 2026 will
become subject to federal trafficking exposure with no statutory safe harbor. [13]
• Patients in approximately 25 jurisdictions that authorize cannabis home cultivation will lose
access to the genetics on which their care depends — at the same moment federal rescheduling
expands medical recognition. [14][15][16]
• U.S. breeders will lose access to the best genetics for development of a wide range of industrial
applications such as building materials, hemp clothing and insulation – as well as soil
remediation genetics.
• U.S. breeders will face a compliance burden no major trading partner imposes, ceding the global
cannabis genetics market to China, Canada, the EU, and other competitors. [10][11][12] "

:+1:

There are a couple short discussions on the forum about it, but otherwise the band is playing on …

LOL, yeah, but it seems that there would be big consequences that would likely be enforced under the new rules, unlike in the fairly-recent past.

I’m not sure businesses would take the risks; it’s unclear how many us-based seed banks would fold, either willingly or forcibly.

5 Likes
16

Well hopefully they will move it to schedule 3 come oct then it would not fall under that rule we will have to wait and see​:grin::+1::+1: @Twelve1

6 Likes
17

That would be nice, but I wonder if seeds under schedule 3 would be like how it’s been, or if it would still be too restrictive and thus only be good for some cannabis seeds.
Congress or the big man could just scrap the whole thing and keep the 2018 Farm Bill rules on the hemp, just how it’s been.
All of this could be done with one phone call from the big man, we all know this.

VOTE!

We need to get folks into office who will undo this mess.

5 Likes
18

I am popping 1 or 2 plants and cutting clones for the tent.
With 60 seeds I have 15 years of production.

4 Likes
19

It’s confusing as hell for sure. I expect as we near the deadline there’ll be more attention / press in the direction of what’s going on, but for now it seems anyone’s guess is as good as the next guy’s.

Can’t speak for businesses but the lack of clarity for people in the industry must be really tough. Hard to operate with such volatility. Heard of some people stocking up, but general consensus is that it’ll still be possible to get seeds - as people did prior to 2018, although I wasn’t in this world much then. Also adds even more confusion with the move to schedule 3. Mixed signals to say the least.

Either way - for any of us interested in policy or regulation changes we can use this thread to keep each other updated, start new ones as specific changes come in, or create a separate master thread that we keep running. Whatever’s best!

6 Likes
20

I’m afraid I’m becoming pessimistic. My sister keeps telling me to write my legislators, but it seems like a lost cause. I suspect most of my fellow growers would rather stay discrete, so they are unlikely to protest. And the list of Attorneys General asking for this change is long and bipartisan.

Here in my home state of Hawaii, with a 329 Marijuana card we can grow 10 plants at a time. But if you read the rules carefully, you can’t legally buy seeds. You have to rely on some mysterious benefactor giving you seeds or clones. And the state law here already doesn’t allow hemp seeds either. My conclusion is that the legal system just isn’t paying attention to the availability of seeds. The rules don’t make any sense.

It seems like Pothead64 has the right idea. Plan for 15 years right now. Trying to guess what the government is going to do is a sucker’s bet.

6 Likes