The Last Days of THCA in Florida

The good news is that, now that the federal government shutdown in faraway Washington, D.C. has ended, your SNAP benefits will continue uninterrupted, but the bad news is that it will be harder to get the munchies to enjoy your EBT purchases. The bad news is that the legislation that enabled the federal government to resume its operations contained a provision that promises to decimate the legal “cannabis in all but name” industry. Most of what happens in Washington, D.C. does not interest us or affect us here in Florida, but federal law appears to be coming for what we hold dear. The advent of the medical cannabis industry ushered in an age of innovation. Who knew there could be so many products that aren’t exactly weed, but which feel so much like it that they aren’t not weed, either? As a condition of restoring SNAP benefits and airport staffing, the federal government also banned intoxicating hemp products. The purported goal was to close a legal loophole, but it also means that some of your favorite feel-good dietary supplements are about to become illegal drugs. If you are confused about which of your favorite natural highs are legal, contact a Florida drug offenses attorney.

THCA Was Always a Legal Gray Area

In 2018, the federal Farm Bill provided that dietary supplements sourced from industrial hemp are legal for sale over the counter and are not controlled substances. The rationale is that the concentration of delta-9 THC, the main psychoactive compound in marijuana, is too low to cause intoxication. Supplement manufacturers quickly found a loophole whereby they could make intoxicating edibles and drinks out of hemp instead of marijuana simply by refining them until the concentrations of compounds that resemble delta-9 THC were high enough to have a similar effect to that of cannabis edibles made with marijuana leaves or THC oil. Therefore, the last decade has been the age of delta-8 THC and THCa, compounds that are not identical to delta-9 THC when a lab analyzes them but which have similar intoxicating effects.

In November 2025, the federal government passed a piece of legislation that bans intoxicating products sourced from hemp. In other words, THC is THC whether it comes from weed or hemp. This legislation passed as a provision of the bill to end the government shutdown. This meant that some of the legislators who voted for it did so, not because they wanted to repeal the hemp provisions of the Farm Bill, but rather because they wanted the federal shutdown to end before it caused more disruptions in voters’ everyday lives. The provision goes into effect in November 2026, which means that you have almost a year to rethink your strategy for staying on the right side of the law with cannabis.

Contact FL Drug Defense Group About Drug Cases

A Central Florida criminal defense lawyer can help you if you are facing criminal charges for possession of hemp-derived products that were legal until recently.  Contact FL Drug Defense Group in Orlando, Florida to discuss your case.

Source:

mjbizdaily.com/28-billion-industry-outlawed-as-congress-passes-hemp-thc-ban/