Welcome to the world of legal hemp! If you’ve been enjoying CBD oils or even those new THC gummies delivered to your door, you can thank the 2018 Farm Bill. This landmark law changed the game for hemp and cannabis products in the U.S. – and its effects are still shaping what’s on the market today. In this post, we’ll break down exactly what the 2018 Farm Bill did (especially for Delta 9 THC and THCa), what counts as legal hemp (hello, 0.3% THC rule 👋), and how it paved the way for things like high-THCa hemp flower and hemp-derived Delta 9 edibles. We’ll also look at how the law holds up in 2025, including recent updates, court rulings, and federal buzz around shipping and selling these trendy cannabinoids.

Hemp Legalization 101: How the 2018 Farm Bill Changed Everything

In 2018, Congress passed the Agriculture Improvement Act (aka the 2018 Farm Bill), and hemp fans everywhere rejoiced. Why? This bill legalized hemp at the federal level, separating it from its psychoactive cousin, marijuana. Hemp is now defined in U.S. law as “the plant Cannabis sativa L. and any part of that plant, including the seeds, and all derivatives, extracts, cannabinoids, isomers, acids, salts, etc., with a delta 9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of not more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis”. 

In plain English: as long as a cannabis plant or product has 0.3% or less of Delta 9 THC (by dry weight), it’s considered hemp, not marijuana. And under the Farm Bill, hemp is legal – it was removed from the federal Controlled Substances Act, meaning it’s no longer classified as an illegal drug.

So, what changed after this bill? A few key things happened overnight:

• Hemp vs. Marijuana: The 0.3% Delta-9 THC threshold became the line in the sand. Cannabis with more than 0.3% Delta 9 THC = illegal “marijuana” (still federally a Schedule I substance). Cannabis at or below 0.3% Delta 9 THC = legal “hemp.” That tiny percentage might sound arbitrary, but it’s now the magic number that determines if a plant is treated like industrial hemp or pot.
• All Hemp Parts Are Legal: The law made it clear that not just hemp fiber or seeds are legal – all parts of the hemp plant are okay, including cannabinoids and derivatives, as long as they stay under 0.3% Delta 9 THC. This opened the door for hemp-derived CBD products (which exploded in popularity) and other cannabinoid extracts.
• Interstate Commerce: Hemp and hemp products can be grown, sold, and shipped across state lines (with some regulations). The Farm Bill basically told states “you can’t prohibit the transportation or shipment of legal hemp” – a big win for the national market. By mid-2019, even the USPS had updated its rules to allow mailing of hemp products, as long as you comply with the 0.3% THC limit and keep records to prove it.
• Regulation of Growers: Farmers can cultivate hemp under state or federal programs with proper licensing. There are testing requirements (to ensure that crop stays under the THC limit) and other rules, but broadly speaking, it made hemp just another agricultural commodity.

The immediate result? Hemp went mainstream. CBD oils hit health store shelves, hemp clothing and foods gained traction, and people started exploring other hemp-derived compounds. But perhaps the most surprising outcome was the emergence of THC products from “legal hemp.” How is that possible? To understand that, we need to talk about Delta 9 THC and THCa.

Delta 9 THC vs. THCa – Know Your Cannabinoids

Cannabis comes with a whole alphabet soup of cannabinoids, but two of the most important for this story are Delta 9 THC and THCa. They’re closely related, but the Farm Bill treats them a bit differently. Let’s break it down:

• Delta 9 THC (Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol): This is the famous stuff that gets you high. It’s the primary psychoactive compound in marijuana. Under federal law, Delta 9 THC is tightly restricted – any plant or product with >0.3% Delta 9 THC by dry weight is illegal (marijuana), while ≤0.3% is legal (hemp). So Delta 9 is the key metric for legality. It’s what drug tests look for and what historically landed cannabis on the controlled substances list. In short, Delta 9 THC is the star of the show – the one regulators care most about, because it’s responsible for the intoxicating effects of cannabis.
• THCa (tetrahydrocannabinolic acid): Think of THCa as Delta 9’s precursor. It’s an acid molecule produced by raw cannabis plants. By itself, THCa is non-intoxicating – it won’t get you high if you eat a raw cannabis leaf or take a tincture of THCa. However, when you heat THCa (through smoking, vaping, or baking), it converts (“decarboxylates”) into Delta 9 THC. Suddenly that non-intoxicating acid becomes the psychoactive THC.

Now, here’s the funny loophole: the 2018 Farm Bill’s 0.3% limit specifically applies to Delta 9 THC, not THCa. In other words, the law as written only measures the Delta 9 content of the hemp. It doesn’t explicitly cap THCa in the definition of legal hemp. If a hemp product has very low Delta 9 THC but high THCa, it could technically pass as legal hemp under the law. This is exactly what some clever growers and manufacturers realized. They could cultivate cannabis plants that are rich in THCa but still under 0.3% Delta 9 when tested. On paper (and by law) that’s hemp – even if in practice, once you light it up, it delivers a typical THC high.

To put it simply: Delta 9 THC is the active cannabinoid that the law monitors, whereas THCa is like THC-in-waiting – legal in the plant, but destined to become illegal THC at the moment of consumption. The Farm Bill unintentionally left a gap for THCa-rich products to slip through, as long as they are sold in their “raw” form. And boy, did the industry take note of that, as we’ll see below.

But before we talk about those products, let’s clarify the famous 0.3% rule and how it applies to real-world items like gummies and flower.

The 0.3% THC Rule: Why That Number Matters (and How Gummies Obey It)

You’ve probably seen “<0.3% Δ9 THC” printed on our hemp product labels and others. That’s the golden compliance rule from the Farm Bill. But how do we interpret 0.3% in actual products? It’s all about dry weight. For plant material (like dried hemp flower), it’s straightforward – labs measure how many milligrams of Delta 9 per gram of dried plant. 0.3% means 3 milligrams of Delta 9 THC per gram of material (since 0.3% of 1,000 mg is 3 mg). If a lab finds more than that in a “hemp” sample, legally it’s not hemp at all (it would be marijuana). That’s why hemp farmers take testing so seriously – a crop that tests hot (over 0.3%) might have to be destroyed.

For hemp-derived products like oils, tinctures, or edibles, the same principle applies: the final product can’t exceed 0.3% Delta 9 THC by weight. Most CBD oils, for example, have only trace THC well below 0.3%. But what about those new hemp Delta 9 THC gummies giving people a mild buzz? How do those stay legal? The answer is surprisingly simple math and a bit of crafty candy-making:

Hemp-derived Delta 9 THC gummies obey the 0.3% rule by using a lot of gummy and a little THC. For example, a gummy weighing 6 grams (6000mg) can legally contain up to 18mg of Delta 9 THC (0.3% of 6000mg). This means hemp-derived Delta 9 THC edibles can offer powerful effects while remaining compliant with federal law.

For hemp flower buds, the 0.3% rule means the dry buds must have very minimal Delta 9 THC content. Typically, truly compliant hemp flower might show something like 0.2% Delta 9 THC on a lab report – which by itself is not enough to feel anything. However, if that same flower has, say, 10-20% THCa, it’s still legal to sell as hemp (since the Delta 9 is under 0.3%). When you smoke that flower, the THCa converts and suddenly you effectively have 10-20% THC. In effect, you’re smoking marijuana-strength buds that were sold to you as legal hemp. All thanks to the weight-based measurement standard.

Why 0.3%, anyway? It goes back to some scientific research in the 1970s that tried to distinguish hemp from psychoactive cannabis. 0.3% THC was proposed as a point below which cannabis has essentially no intoxication potential. It stuck as a legal definition in Canada and then the U.S. Farm Bill. It’s not a perfect cutoff, but it’s the law of the land.

The key takeaway: 0.3% Delta 9 THC is the threshold that determines legality, and it’s measured by product weight. Hemp companies have learned to work within that limit – whether by growing plants that meet the standard or formulating products that do. This set the stage for a range of hemp-derived THC products hitting the market while playing by the rules.

2025 Update: Current Laws, Loopholes, and What Might Change

The 2018 Farm Bill set off a chain reaction of innovation – and also some controversy. As of 2025, the core rules of the Farm Bill are still in effect: hemp = ≤0.3% Delta 9 THC, and that hasn’t changed. In fact, although the Farm Bill was due for an update in 2023 (these bills get revisited about every 5 years), Congress extended the 2018 rules for the time being, with no immediate changes to the hemp definitions or THC limits . Lawmakers needed more time to figure out how to handle the “hemp cannabinoid craze,” so essentially Farm Bill 2018 is still the law of the land in 2025.

However, regulators and politicians have definitely noticed that people are selling intoxicating products under the hemp banner, and there’s been movement to address this. Here are some of the recent key updates and discussions at the federal level:

• Federal Courts Weigh In: The hemp industry scored a major victory in 2022 when a U.S. appeals court clarified that hemp-derived cannabinoids are indeed legal, even if they’re psychoactive. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that “the plain and unambiguous text” of the 2018 Farm Bill legalized Delta 8 THC products derived from hemp, as long as they meet the ≤0.3% Delta 9 standard . The court basically said Congress wrote the law broadly, and it meant what it said – hemp derivatives are lawful, period, even if no one anticipated delta 8 vapes at the time. This gave hemp businesses more confidence that products like Delta 8, Delta 10, and even those heavy Delta 9 gummies are federally allowed. (Notably, the court also pointed out the definition of “hemp” extends to “downstream products” as long as they stay under 0.3% Delta 9 .) That being said, federal agencies like the DEA and FDA weren’t exactly cheering – they’ve maintained a cautious or even oppositional stance (the FDA, for instance, still forbids adding CBD or THC to foods under its regulations, though enforcement is limited).
• DEA vs. THCa – Closing the Loophole: In 2023 and 2024, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) made it clear it isn’t thrilled about high-THCa hemp products. The DEA issued clarification letters stating that THCa should be included when determining a product’s THC content. Specifically, a top DEA official in 2024 pointed out that Congress directed hemp to be tested “using post-decarboxylation or other similarly reliable methods,” meaning labs should account for the THCa that would convert to Delta 9 THC upon heating. He stated plainly that for enforcing the legal definition of hemp, Delta 9 THC levels must account for any THCa. In the DEA’s view, if you take THCa and convert it (as in their lab analysis), it’s chemically equivalent to Delta 9 THC, so “cannabis-derived THCA does not meet the definition of hemp”  if the total THC would exceed 0.3%. This was essentially the DEA saying: “Nice try with the THCa trick, but we consider that illegal marijuana.” However, remember that the DEA’s interpretation is guidance – it’s not a new law. The Farm Bill text itself didn’t explicitly say “total THC.” Still, this stance signals that federal law enforcement could view high-THCa hemp flower as illicit. So far there hasn’t been a sweeping crackdown, but the legal risk is there. (Many hemp attorneys have advised caution, and some labs/referees already measure “Total THC” to be safe.)
• Congressional Debates & The Next Farm Bill: With the hemp loopholes making headlines, Congress is actively discussing tweaks in the next Farm Bill (expected sometime in 2026 or 2027). There have been proposals to redefine hemp as having 0.3% “Total THC” (including THCa) instead of just Delta 9. In fact, a key House committee in 2023 adopted an amendment that would ban or severely restrict intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoids like delta 8 THC outside of regulated cannabis markets . Some lawmakers (from both parties) seem intent on “closing the loophole” that allows psychoactive products to be sold freely. On the other hand, the hemp industry is pushing back, arguing that over-regulation could hurt legitimate hemp farmers and even non-intoxicating uses. One worry is that counting THCa in the 0.3% limit could effectively wipe out most hemp flower production (since even many CBD-rich hemp strains have THCa that would count). As of 2025, no new federal law has passed yet to change the definition – but keep an eye out, because any new Farm Bill might bring big changes. It’s quite possible that by 2025’s end or 2026, what’s legal in the hemp world could be more tightly defined (for example, maybe a higher THC limit but a ban on conversions, or requiring all intoxicating products to go through state cannabis programs). The discussions are ongoing.
• Shipping & Online Sales: Federally, shipping hemp products is legal – the USPS and other carriers treat compliant hemp like any other lawful product. After the Farm Bill, USPS explicitly allowed hemp shipments as long as you follow the rules (they even dropped a requirement for upfront documentation, though you should keep test results on file). As of 2025, no federal law bans mailing these items, and hemp products can generally be shipped interstate, but always ensure the product is legal at the destination. Also, there is talk at the federal level about uniform regulations or even FDA oversight for hemp cannabinoids to ensure safety (because there have been concerns about untested products). So far, though, Congress hasn’t passed specific regulations on those fronts.
  

In summary, the law that made your hemp products legal in 2018 still largely holds in 2025, but there’s pressure to tighten it. Court decisions have (for now) affirmed the legality of hemp-derived THC products under the existing definition , while agencies like the DEA are trying to interpret the rules in a stricter way . The next Farm Bill update could alter the landscape, possibly by redefining hemp or barring certain cannabinoids. But until that happens, the 2018 framework is in play – meaning hemp-derived CBD, Delta 9, THCa, etc., remain federally legal (when compliant with the 0.3% Delta 9 limit).

As a consumer in 2025, you should stay informed and flexible. Laws at the state or federal level could change, and products that are available today might face new rules tomorrow. Enjoy the current offerings, but keep an ear out for updates from reputable news sources or industry groups about hemp legislation.

In a world where cannabis laws are sometimes a buzzkill, the 2018 Farm Bill has been a breath of fresh air – bringing a bit of the cannabis lifestyle into the legal, wellness-oriented realm. Whether you’re a THC user looking for legal alternatives, or a health-conscious consumer curious about cannabinoids, there’s a lot to explore under this hemp umbrella.

So here’s to enjoying the benefits of hemp in 2025 and beyond – legally, responsibly, and with a big “hemp hemp hooray!” for how far we’ve come . If you’re intrigued, feel free to explore the wide range of Farm Bill-compliant, lab-tested hemp products on our website! There’s something for everyone, all made possible by those who pushed for this  legislation back in 2018. Enjoy the journey, and stay tuned for the next chapter of hemp history!