Federal hemp law: Section 781 before and after December 11

The definition in force today

Federal law defines hemp in 7 U.S.C. 1639o, a section the 2018 Farm Bill added. Hemp is the cannabis plant and anything made from it, including extracts and cannabinoids, with a delta-9 THC concentration of no more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis.

Only delta-9 THC is named in that test, and it is a percentage of weight, not an amount per package. That is why products such as heavier gummies could hold several milligrams of delta-9 THC and still fall inside the definition. The delta-9 page works through the arithmetic.

Farms are held to a stricter test. USDA's hemp rule, 7 CFR Part 990, requires a crop sample taken within 30 days before harvest to be measured for total THC: delta-9 THC plus the THCA that turns into it when heated. The THCA page covers what that difference meant.

What Section 781 changes

Section 781 of Public Law 119-37, enacted November 12, 2025, rewrites the definition. Four parts matter to a shopper.

• Total THC, including THCA. The plant and its parts must hold no more than 0.3 percent total THC, THCA included, on a dry weight basis.
• 0.4 mg per container. A finished hemp-derived cannabinoid product is not hemp if it holds more than 0.4 mg per container of total THC combined with any other cannabinoids that have similar effects, or are marketed as having them, as the Secretary of Health and Human Services determines.
• No synthesized cannabinoids. Cannabinoids the plant cannot produce naturally are excluded, and so are cannabinoids the plant can produce that were synthesized or manufactured outside the plant.
• Intermediate products. Extracts above the limit are excluded if they are marketed or sold as a final product or directly to consumers.

The law defines a container as the innermost wrapping, packaging or vessel in direct contact with the product, in which it is enclosed for retail sale, such as a jar, bottle, bag, box, packet, can, carton or cartridge. Bulk shipping containers and outer wrappings not needed for the retail sale do not count.

The limit applies to products used through any means, which the law lists as inhalation, ingestion or topical application. A full spectrum CBD product can be over it: Executive Order 14370 of December 2025 notes that some full spectrum CBD products "will once again be controlled as marijuana" when Section 781 takes effect, because their THC per container is above the threshold.

When each part starts

Section 781 takes effect 365 days after enactment, which is November 12, 2026. Public Law 119-103 (H.R. 6500, signed September 2, 2026) then says that until December 11, 2026 the new definition applies only to cannabinoids the hemp plant cannot produce naturally.

• November 12, 2026: products made with cannabinoids the plant cannot produce naturally are no longer hemp.
• December 11, 2026: the rest begins: total THC including THCA, the 0.4 mg per container limit, the rule on cannabinoids synthesized outside the plant, and the rules for intermediate products.

The same law funds the government through December 11, 2026, so the next funding bill may revisit the date. We will update this page if it does.

As of November 5, 2026 no later law had changed these dates. Three bills would move them to November 12, 2028: H.R. 7010, H.R. 7024 and S. 3686. Each had been referred to committee with no further action.

What is still open

Section 781 directed the FDA to publish, within 90 days, a list of the cannabinoids the plant can produce naturally, a list of the THC-class cannabinoids, a list of other cannabinoids with similar effects, and more detail on the term container. Ninety days from enactment was about February 10, 2026.

We searched the Federal Register and the FDA's cannabis page on November 5, 2026 and found none of these published. The FDA's cannabis page was last updated in July 2024. Until a list of similar-effect cannabinoids exists, the per-container arithmetic on this site counts THC only.

The FDA's view on CBD in supplements is unchanged: its cannabis page says THC and CBD products are excluded from the dietary supplement definition.

Mailing hemp products

USPS Publication 52, section 453.37, permits hemp and hemp-based products, including CBD, within the THC limit of the federal hemp definition to be mailed within the United States. The mailer must comply with federal, state and local law and keep records for at least 3 years. International mail, including APO, FPO and DPO addresses, is not allowed.

The USPS rule points to 7 U.S.C. 1639o "or any successor provision", so it follows the new definition when it takes effect.

State law is separate

States set their own hemp rules, and some differ from the federal definition. The state guides cover Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee.

For what the change means on this site, product by product, read What's changing on December 11.