First Federal Hemp Limits Hit NC Shops as Bigger Ban Nears

RALEIGH, N.C. — The first of two federal crackdowns on hemp products takes effect Thursday, and North Carolina retailers say the second one, due next month, is the one that could close their doors.

Starting Nov. 12, stores can no longer sell hemp-derived products made with cannabinoids that a cannabis plant cannot produce on its own. The change comes from a federal appropriations law for fiscal 2026 that rewrote the legal definition of hemp. Synthetic products make up only a small slice of what most hemp shops sell.

The bigger shift arrives Dec. 11. After that date, selling any finished hemp product carrying over 0.4 milligrams of total THC in a container becomes illegal. That threshold sweeps in most of the items that have driven the industry’s growth since hemp was legalized in the 2018 Farm Bill, including THC gummies, seltzers and other drinks, edibles and smokable flower. A single bag of 20 gummies at 5 milligrams each holds 100 milligrams of THC, about 250 times the new cap.

CBD and other hemp products that stay under the THC limit will remain legal.

Owners of hemp stores and beverage makers in Raleigh, Durham and Asheville say the December rule would wipe out their main product lines and could force layoffs or closures. Some say the uncertainty already keeps them from renewing leases or making large inventory orders, and beverage companies that built their business on grocery, bottle shop and restaurant sales face losing those outlets. Several are urging Congress to act before the deadline, and one Asheville retailer is circulating a petition.

Nationally, a September industry analysis valued the hemp cannabinoid business at $38.7 billion and about 350,000 jobs. A lawyer who works with the industry said he does not expect federal agents to go after individual consumers right away.

Filed under: Raleigh NC Business News