Is THCA legal in Vermont? Vermont hemp, CBD and kratom laws

The law in Vermont

Vermont rewrote its hemp law in 2026. Act 178, signed on June 18, 2026 and in force on passage for its hemp sections, repealed the old hemp chapter in Title 6, which the Agency of Agriculture had run, and placed a new hemp subchapter in Title 7 under the Cannabis Control Board, the agency that already oversees the adult-use cannabis market. The act's own findings say its purpose is to bring cannabis and hemp-derived cannabinoids under one regulator while keeping a path open for nonintoxicating hemp products.

Vermont does not set its own THC number in the hemp definition. Under 7 V.S.A. 852, hemp and hemp products are the plant and its derivatives "with the federally defined tetrahydrocannabinol concentration level of hemp," so the state definition moves with federal law. A hemp-derived product the Board prohibits or deems a regulated cannabis product by rule, or one that is not lawful in interstate commerce, is not a hemp product at all: the statute calls it a cannabis product.

1. July 15, 2019The current version of the Department of Health's Regulated Drug Rule, listing mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine as hallucinogenic drugs, takes effect.
2. February 27, 2025H.416, a bill to register and regulate kratom products, is referred to the House Committee on Human Services; no later action follows.
3. July 15, 2025The Cannabis Control Board's current Rule 2 takes effect, including section 2.17 on synthetic and hemp-derived cannabinoids.
4. January 15, 2026The Department of Health's Manufactured Food Rule takes effect, barring THC from licensed food processors.
5. June 18, 2026The Governor signs Act 178, which repeals the hemp chapter in Title 6 and moves hemp oversight to the Cannabis Control Board on passage.
6. December 11, 2026The federal limit of 0.4 mg total THC per container begins.

THCA and the cannabis line

The Board's working limits sit in Rule 2, section 2.17, in force since July 15, 2025. A product that is not cannabis is presumed prohibited if, in the form sold, it holds more than 0.3 percent total THC on a dry weight basis, more than 1.5 mg THC in a serving, or more than 10 mg total THC in a package, unless its ratio of CBD to THC is at least 20 to 1. The same presumption covers a hemp product mixed with beverage alcohol and one whose dominant market appeal is mimicking THC intoxication.

THCA is counted. Rule 2.9.2 has the labs report potency as total theoretical THC, delta-9 THC plus 0.877 times the THCA, and the Board's hemp page calls the idea that THCA is not THC "legally wrong." THCA flower or a THCA concentrate above those lines can only reach a Vermont buyer as a registered cannabis product, sold by a licensed cannabis establishment, which 7 V.S.A. 866 bars from selling to anyone under 21.

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Delta-8 and other converted THC

Section 2.17.1 lists the cannabinoids the Board prohibits: every isomer, variant, analog and mimetic of delta-9 THC, delta-8 and delta-10 included, that is created by chemical manipulation of any part of the cannabis plant, whatever the THC level of the hemp it came from. It also bars delta-9 THC concentrated from hemp and then sprayed or infused into a product so as to make it intoxicating. 7 V.S.A. 862a gives the Board its authority over synthetic and hemp-derived cannabinoids.

The rule allows a few exceptions. A product the Board has evaluated, registered and taxed as a cannabis product may be sold through the licensed market, and a product prohibited only because its delta-9 THC exceeds the serving or package limits may be made and moved for lawful export to a state where it may be sold.

Licenses, registration and shipping

Under 7 V.S.A. 854, every hemp grower registers with the Board, every processor, including anyone trading in hemp-derived cannabinoids, holds a Board license, and every hemp-derived product containing, or reasonably expected to contain, more than 0.4 mg THC must be registered before it is sold to any person in Vermont. Section 858 sets the yearly fees at $50 for a producer, $500 for a processor and $75 for each product. The Board may set by rule when a registered product over 0.4 mg THC is limited to buyers 21 and older; its rules page still lists only Rules 1 to 4, effective July 15, 2025, and we found no rule adopted under the new hemp subchapter.

Online sales carry their own penalty. 7 V.S.A. 834 bars anyone from shipping unregistered hemp or cannabis bought by mail, phone or the internet to anyone in Vermont other than a licensed Vermont cannabis laboratory. A knowing violation is punishable by up to five years in prison or a $5,000 fine, the Attorney General may seek up to $5,000 for each shipment, and a violation is also an unfair trade practice under the Consumer Protection Act.

CBD in food

Vermont's statute lists food for people and animals among hemp products, with CBD named as an example of a hemp-derived cannabinoid. The Department of Health's Manufactured Food Rule, effective January 15, 2026, addresses THC rather than CBD: section 5.4 says a Department food processor license does not permit making, adding, using, storing or handling THC or products containing THC, and that a licensed processor must keep its food physically apart from any area holding THC. Rule 2.17 separately presumes a hemp product prohibited when it contains beverage alcohol, including a cocktail made at a bar or restaurant.

Kratom, kava, amanita and spores

Kratom is a regulated drug in Vermont. The Department of Health's Regulated Drug Rule, adopted under 18 V.S.A. 4201 and 4202, lists both mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine in its section on hallucinogenic drugs, and 18 V.S.A. 4235 makes it an offense to knowingly possess, dispense or sell a hallucinogenic drug. H.416 of 2025 would have replaced that approach with a registry of kratom products, labels and an age limit, but its docket shows only its referral to the House Committee on Human Services on February 27, 2025.

The same rule lists psilocybin and psilocin. H.452 of 2025, which would decriminalize psilocybin-containing mushrooms, was referred to the House Committee on Human Services on February 28, 2025 and shows no later action. We found no Vermont statute or rule naming mushroom spores, kava, or amanita muscaria and its compounds muscimol and ibotenic acid.

The federal change on December 11

From December 11, 2026, the federal definition counts total THC including THCA and limits a finished hemp-derived cannabinoid product to 0.4 mg per container. Vermont's definitions follow the federal THC level, and under 7 V.S.A. 852 a hemp-derived product that is not lawful in interstate commerce counts as a cannabis product. Read the federal page and What's changing on December 11.