The Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) said the recent House of Representatives-passed Farm Bill fails to address a looming federal ban on intoxicating hemp products, calling it a “missed opportunity.”
The Washington, D.C.-based trade group said the legislation does not resolve how intoxicating hemp-derived THC products will be regulated and warned that a prohibition approach could push consumers into unregulated channels.
“A ban will not remove these products from the market—it will push consumers toward unregulated, online channels with no age verification, no product standards and no accountability,” Dawson Hobbs, executive vice president of government affairs at WSWA, said in a statement.
Hobbs said that the alcohol industry has 90 years of experience proving that responsible regulation works.
“WSWA has long believed that intoxicating beverages should be subject to baseline federal regulations that allow for additional state-specific regulatory solutions,” he said. “We urge the Senate to act before November 2026 to replace this ban with a durable federal framework that actually protects consumers.”
The House passed its version of a five-year Farm Bill on April 30 by a vote of 224-200. The legislation now heads to the Senate.
A provision in the federal spending bill could effectively ban the sale of intoxicating hemp-derived THC products beginning in November, according to industry insiders.
Diana Eberlein, chair of the Coalition for Adult Beverage Alternatives and chief communications officer for emulsion supplier Vertosa, who spoke in March at CSP’s first Cannabis Forum in Lombard, Illinois, said the deadline would ban all hemp products with more than 0.4 milligrams of psychoactive tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, per container. Hemp-THC suppliers and distributors have until then before the full ban is enforced, unless the ruling is changed.
Products exceeding the 0.4 milligrams would fall under the Controlled Substances Act, with no exceptions, Eberlein said.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.