In January, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled 3-0 that the Dormant Commerce Clause does not prohibit states from imposing residency requirements for obtaining marijuana business licenses. The court found that the federal illegality of marijuana renders Dormant Commerce Clause protections inapplicable, cementing a circuit split on the constitutionality of state residency rules for marijuana licenses.
On January 5, 2026, Colorado Attorney General (AG) Phil Weiser announced that MC Global Holdings and affiliated persons and entities (collectively, MC) had been fined for allegedly violating the terms of a May 2025 assurance of discontinuance. The defendants, who are engaged in manufacturing, packaging, labeling, distributing, and/or selling industrial hemp products under the brand Vivimu, agreed to a fine of $575,000, of which $500,000 will be suspended as long as they comply with the terms of the new agreement.
Congress has enacted H.R. 5371, the Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Extensions Act, 2026. Section 781 of the law substantially amends the Agricultural Marketing Act’s definition of “hemp,” tightening the THC threshold and explicitly excluding several categories of hemp-derived cannabinoid products from the definition. Because the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) excludes “hemp” by cross-reference to the Agricultural Marketing Act, narrowing the hemp definition will push many currently marketed intoxicating hemp products back into Schedule I status under the CSA once these changes take effect.
The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (the 2018 Farm Bill) legalized industrial hemp for commercial use to support American farmers and create a regulated industrial hemp market. The 2018 Farm Bill defined “hemp” as “the plant Cannabis sativa L. and any part of that plant, including the seeds thereof and all derivatives, extracts, cannabinoids, isomers, acids, salts, and salts of isomers, whether growing or not, with a delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol [THC] concentration of not more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis.” The 2018 Farm Bill also removed hemp from the definition of “marihuana” under the Controlled Substances Act. Since 2018, many in the hemp industry have relied on language in the 2018 Farm Bill’s definition of “hemp” (sometimes referred to as the 2018 Farm Bill loophole) to take the position that it authorizes the production and sale of intoxicating, hemp-derived THC products (e.g., beverages, gummies, candies, etc.) that are derived from cannabis plants containing less than 0.3% delta-9 THC on a dry-weight basis. On October 24, the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) sent a letter to congressional committee chairs, signed by 39 state and U.S. territory attorneys general (AGs), urging immediate legislative action to close the loophole.
The cannabis industry is evolving rapidly, and technology is at the center of this transformation. State-licensed operators are deploying automation tools, robotics, and artificial intelligence (AI) to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and strengthen compliance. However, innovation in this space comes with unusual challenges. Cannabis remains federally illegal, which restricts financial services, complicates interstate commerce, and subjects businesses to a patchwork of state-specific rules.
In July 2025, a bipartisan coalition of 32 state and territorial attorneys general (AG) sent a letter to congressional leaders urging the passage of the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act. Their letter emphasizes that the legislation — a long-stalled federal reform — would provide legal clarity and a safe harbor for banks and financial institutions to serve state-licensed cannabis businesses. Such clarity, they argue, is urgently needed to address public safety risks and to improve the states’ ability to regulate and tax the booming cannabis industry.
On July 17, the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture hosted a closed-door roundtable briefing focused on the regulatory gray areas surrounding hemp-derived cannabinoid products. The session, convened in response to ongoing concerns over consumer safety, regulatory ambiguity, and market disruption, featured expert insights from four panelists: Jonathan Miller, general counsel for the U.S. Hemp Roundtable; Pamela Epstein, chief legal and regulatory officer at Terpene Belt Farms; Cole White, attorney at Troutman Pepper Locke, in his capacity as special counsel for the Attorney General Alliance; and Dr. Gillian Schauer, executive director of the Cannabis Regulators Association. The discussion reflected mounting congressional interest in addressing the unintended consequences of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018’s (2018 Farm Bill) legalization of hemp and its derivatives.
This article was originally published on July 18, 2025 in Reuters and Westlaw Today.
Intoxicating hemp-derived products have proliferated across the U.S. under the guise of the 2018 Farm Bill’s definition of “hemp.” Although these products produce psychoactive effects akin to state-regulated cannabis products, they are often manufactured and sold with little oversight or regulatory controls.
On May 27, the Texas Legislature sent Senate Bill 3 (SB3) to Gov. Greg Abbott for signature, marking a potentially seismic shift in the legal landscape for hemp-derived cannabinoid products in the state. If signed into law – or allowed to take effect without a veto – SB3 will impose one of the most comprehensive bans on consumable hemp products in the country, to include all products containing any measurable amount of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) or other natural and synthetic intoxicating cannabinoids. The legislation targets a market that has flourished since the passage of the 2018 federal Farm Bill and Texas’s 2019 hemp law, creating new compliance, enforcement, and business continuity questions for stakeholders across the supply chain. This article summarizes SB3’s major provisions and provides an example of the impacts the bill will have on manufacturers, retailers, and consumers through the lens of infused beverage products.
On May 14, Colorado Attorney General (AG) Phil Weiser announced that the state reached a settlement with MC Global Holdings, LLC, its associated companies, and owners (collectively MC) to resolve allegations that MC’s business practices violated the Colorado Consumer Protection Act (CCPA).