NC Hemp Shops Brace as Federal THC Limits Begin Thursday

DURHAM, N.C. — North Carolina’s hemp industry is entering a two-step federal crackdown with no clear answer on what comes after it. The first piece takes effect Thursday, Nov. 12, and a much broader limit follows on Dec. 11.

Both changes trace back to the 2025 federal tax and spending law. The Nov. 12 provision strips synthetic cannabinoids and other compounds the cannabis plant cannot produce on its own out of the federal definition of hemp and treats them as marijuana. Synthetics make up only a small slice of what shops sell.

The bigger blow lands in December. From Dec. 11, hemp products are legal under federal law only if total THC in each consumer container stays at or below 0.4 milligrams. That threshold would sweep in most THC drinks, gummies and edibles, and could also catch some CBD products that carry trace amounts of THC. The cap was first set to start in November before Congress pushed it back a month.

The stakes are large for the state. Hemp has grown into roughly a $3 billion business in North Carolina that employs about 16,000 people. Shop owners in Durham say they cannot renew leases or place big orders because they may not be allowed to operate a month from now, and a Raleigh maker of THC drinks expects to lose the grocery stores, bottle shops and restaurants where its cans are sold today. Hemp farmers could lose buyers if manufacturers cut production.

State policy is unsettled too. The state Senate passed a bill matching the federal THC limit and banning hemp consumables, including CBD, for buyers under 21, but the House held off in August and said it could revisit the issue after the November elections. Gov. Josh Stein, who supports a regulated adults-only cannabis market, set up an Advisory Council on Cannabis that is due to send him its final recommendations by year’s end.

The election shifted the ground again. Democrats will control the state House next year, and several lawmakers said Monday it was too soon to say what the new majority will do, though they hope to take up the issue. A lawyer who works with the industry said he does not expect federal agents to target individual consumers right away.

Filed under: Raleigh NC Business News