THC drinks in Virginia face federal crackdown
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The spending plan that reopened the federal government last week may tank an entire industry thanks to a last-minute provision inserted into the bill.
Why it matters: The new rule could crush local hemp-based small businesses.
State of play: Congress closed a loophole in the 2018 Farm Bill that had made hemp products legal, and more specifically, hemp-derived THC products, like drinks and edibles.
- The new provision criminalizes hemp-derived THC products.
Context: Hemp has become big business in Virginia, generating around $562 million in annual revenue, WWBT reports, even with the state's changing laws around it.
- Under current state law, hemp-derived products are legal as long as they have 2 milligrams or less of THC (and 25 times as much CBD as THC).
- The new federal rules taking effect in November 2026 slash the amount of THC allowed to .4 milligrams.
What they're saying: "Effectively it destroys the entire industry," Bingo Beer Co.'s Jay Bayer tells Axios.
Zoom in: Bingo launched a line of THC-infused cocktails, Cheat Code (originally High Score Beverage Co.), in the spring, largely to meet the growing consumer demand for nonalcoholic drink options.
- It was a hit, he says, especially with "Millennial Moms" who wanted something in the "low-dose space."
- Now he's in a holding pattern with his burgeoning drink line, as is the entire ecosystem of hemp-based small businesses that have cropped up, including farms, wellness shops, markets and canning companies.
- Redfern Hemp Co., a hemp farm and hemp product wholesaler in Caroline County, told WRIC it may have to close and layoff its workers.
- The owner of Point 5 bottle shop in Carytown told WWBT her business would take a significant hit if the THC ban holds.
The intrigue: Many of the local hemp-connected businesses welcome stronger regulation around the industry, Bayer says, but agree that an outright ban is too much.
- Hemp advocates are expected to lobby intensely to fight the ban.