CBD Legislation: 2026 Hemp Rewrite, FDA Rules, State Laws

CBD legislation in the United States starts with one federal rule and splinters from there: hemp-derived CBD is legal under federal law when it comes from cannabis containing no more than 0.3% delta-9 THC by dry weight, a line drawn by the 2018 Farm Bill. From that single threshold, the picture gets more complicated fast. The Food and Drug Administration still refuses to allow CBD in food or dietary supplements, roughly half the states impose their own purchase-age and licensing rules, and a rewrite of the federal definition of “hemp” takes effect on November 12, 2026 that will reshape what counts as a legal CBD product.

The Federal Baseline Under the 2018 Farm Bill

The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 split cannabis into two legal categories based on a single chemical measurement. Federal law defines hemp as the Cannabis sativa plant and all its derivatives, extracts, and cannabinoids with a delta-9 THC concentration of no more than 0.3% on a dry weight basis.¹ At or below that line, it is hemp. Above it, the plant is marijuana and remains a Schedule I controlled substance.

That change pulled hemp out from under the Drug Enforcement Administration and made it an agricultural commodity overseen by the Department of Agriculture. The Farm Bill also added a commerce protection that matters for anyone shipping or receiving CBD across state lines: no state or tribe may block the transportation or shipment of hemp products that comply with federal law.²

What the Farm Bill did not do was give CBD a clear path into every type of consumer product. It explicitly preserved the FDA’s authority to regulate CBD under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Removing hemp from the controlled substances list was a necessary first step, not a comprehensive legalization of CBD products.

The November 2026 Rewrite of the Hemp Definition

In November 2025, Congress enacted Public Law 119-37, which rewrites the federal definition of hemp. The changes take effect on November 12, 2026, and they are dramatic enough to reshape the legal CBD and hemp-derived cannabinoid market.³ Until that date, the original 2018 Farm Bill definition remains in effect.¹

Three changes stand out:

The legal threshold shifts from 0.3% delta-9 THC to 0.3% total THC, which includes tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA). This closes a loophole that let products high in THCA qualify as hemp even though THCA converts to THC when heated.
Hemp-derived cannabinoid products containing compounds that are not naturally produced by a cannabis plant, or that were synthesized outside the plant, no longer qualify as hemp.
Final hemp-derived cannabinoid products cannot contain more than 0.4 milligrams of combined total THC per container, along with any other cannabinoids the Secretary of Health and Human Services determines have similar intoxicating effects.

That last limit is the one to watch. A 0.4-milligram-per-container cap on total THC in finished products is extraordinarily low. Many CBD products currently on shelves contain trace THC that would exceed this limit, even if they comply with the current 0.3% concentration standard. The full impact will depend on how federal agencies implement and enforce the new rules, but anyone buying or selling CBD should prepare for significant disruption starting in late 2026.³

What the FDA Still Does Not Allow

Food and Dietary Supplements

Despite hemp’s legal status, the FDA has not approved CBD for use in conventional food or dietary supplements. Federal law prohibits marketing a substance as a dietary supplement or food ingredient if it was previously approved as a drug or authorized for significant drug investigation.⁴ The same principle applies to adding an approved drug to food sold in interstate commerce.⁵ CBD triggers both provisions because the FDA approved Epidiolex, a prescription CBD drug used to treat seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome, and substantial clinical investigations of CBD preceded that approval.⁶

In early 2023, the FDA formally concluded that its existing regulatory frameworks for food and dietary supplements are not appropriate for CBD. The agency said it had not found adequate evidence to determine how much CBD can be consumed safely and for how long, and that it did not intend to pursue rulemaking to allow CBD in dietary supplements, conventional foods, or animal food. Instead, the FDA called on Congress to create an entirely new regulatory pathway.⁷ As of 2026, Congress has not enacted that pathway, leaving CBD food and supplement products in legal limbo at the federal level.

Cosmetics and Health Claims

CBD in cosmetic products faces less friction. Cosmetic ingredients are generally not subject to FDA premarket approval, and no regulation currently prohibits cannabis-derived ingredients in cosmetics. The product cannot be adulterated or misbranded, and if a CBD cosmetic claims to treat a disease or affect the structure or function of the body, the FDA treats it as a drug and holds it to drug-approval standards.⁸ A hemp-infused lotion sold as a moisturizer is a cosmetic. The same lotion sold as reducing joint inflammation becomes an unapproved drug.

That line is actively policed. The FDA continues issuing warning letters to companies selling CBD products with unapproved health claims, including those marketed for pets.⁹ The Federal Trade Commission separately targets deceptive marketing. In one action, the FTC required a CBD company to refund consumers in full and permanently barred it from claiming its products could treat conditions like chronic pain, cancer, anxiety, depression, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease without competent and reliable scientific evidence.¹⁰

State Rules That Change the Picture

Because the FDA has declined to build a federal pathway for CBD in food and supplements, the states have filled the vacuum. The result is a patchwork where a CBD product legal for sale in one state may be restricted, require different labeling, or demand a different retailer license in another.

States commonly regulate CBD through retail hemp registrations or consumable hemp product licenses, mandatory third-party lab testing for THC content and contaminants, and specific labeling rules. State agriculture departments typically oversee compliance.¹¹

Purchase Age

There is no federal minimum age to buy hemp-derived CBD, so states have set their own. Some set no specific age at all. A significant number require purchasers to be at least 18. Others, including several of the most populous states, require buyers to be 21 or older. The age that applies is wherever you make the purchase, regardless of your home state.

Delta-8 THC and Other Intoxicating Hemp Derivatives

The 0.3% delta-9 threshold left room for products containing other intoxicating cannabinoids like delta-8 THC, delta-10 THC, and THC-O. These can be manufactured from legal hemp-derived CBD through chemical conversion, and because the original federal law measured only delta-9 THC, they occupied a gray area that allowed nationwide sales.

States responded aggressively. More than 20 states now ban or heavily restrict delta-8 THC and similar products. The federal government is closing the same door: the new hemp definition taking effect in November 2026 excludes synthesized cannabinoids and products containing cannabinoids that produce effects similar to THC, as determined by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.³ Businesses still selling delta-8 and similar products should expect significant legal exposure by late 2026.

Traveling With CBD

The Transportation Security Administration allows passengers to carry hemp-derived CBD products that comply with the 0.3% delta-9 THC limit in both carry-on and checked luggage, though the final decision at a checkpoint belongs to the individual TSA officer.¹² Carrying a Certificate of Analysis from the manufacturer verifying THC content and hemp origin is the best way to avoid problems. The federal interstate commerce protection also applies on the ground: states cannot prohibit shipment of compliant hemp products through their territory.² Once you stop traveling and start using or possessing the product inside a state, you are subject to that state’s CBD laws.

International travel is a different situation. U.S. Customs and Border Protection enforces federal law at the border with broader authority than TSA exercises at airport checkpoints, and many countries treat all cannabis-derived products as controlled substances regardless of THC content. Canada, for example, prohibits travelers from carrying cannabis products across its border in either direction. The safe approach is to leave CBD products at home when crossing an international border.

CBD and Workplace Drug Testing

Legal does not mean consequence-free. Standard workplace urine drug screens look for THC metabolites, not CBD. A product containing only CBD and zero THC will not trigger a positive result. The catch is that many CBD products contain THC in amounts their labels do not accurately disclose.

A study published in JAMA Network Open found that only 24% of CBD products tested were accurately labeled for CBD content, and THC was detected in 35% of products tested, including some labeled as THC-free.¹³ Because THC metabolites can remain detectable in urine for weeks, small amounts consumed over time can accumulate to the point where a screen comes back positive.

Employers are generally not required to distinguish between THC from marijuana and THC from a legal hemp product. A positive test can lead to termination, withdrawal of a job offer, or disqualification from safety-sensitive positions, and telling an employer the THC came from legal CBD rarely changes the outcome. If you face workplace drug testing and still choose to use CBD, products labeled as “CBD isolate” carry less risk than “full-spectrum” products, which intentionally retain other cannabinoids including trace THC. Looking for brands that publish batch-specific third-party lab results is the minimum due diligence worth doing.

Product Quality and Labeling

The absence of a comprehensive federal framework means the CBD market operates with less consumer protection than most buyers assume. No federal agency pre-approves CBD product formulations, verifies label claims before sale, or certifies that what is on the label matches what is in the bottle. Some states require manufacturer identification, batch numbers, expiration dates, cannabinoid content in milligrams, and links to third-party lab results, but these requirements vary widely and enforcement is uneven.

The labeling problem is not theoretical. Beyond the finding that only about one in four products tested had accurate CBD levels, 58% of products tested contained significantly more CBD than advertised, and 18% contained significantly less.¹³ For someone using CBD alongside prescription medications, an unpredictable dose introduces real health risks.

Until federal oversight catches up, the most reliable safeguard is a current Certificate of Analysis from an accredited independent lab. A legitimate COA identifies the specific batch, lists the full cannabinoid profile including THC content, and screens for contaminants like heavy metals and pesticides. If a company will not provide one or makes it difficult to find, that tells you more than anything on the label.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 7 USC 1639o – Definitions
2
GovInfo. 7 USC 1639p
3
Congress.gov. Changes to the Federal Definition of Hemp – Legal Considerations
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 21 USC 321 – Definitions, Generally
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 21 USC 331 – Prohibited Acts
6
Food and Drug Administration. EPIDIOLEX (Cannabidiol) Oral Solution Prescribing Information
7
Food and Drug Administration. FDA Concludes That Existing Regulatory Frameworks for Foods and Supplements Are Not Appropriate for Cannabidiol
8
Food and Drug Administration. FDA Regulation of Cannabis and Cannabis-Derived Products, Including Cannabidiol (CBD)
9
Food and Drug Administration. Warning Letters for Cannabis-Derived Products
10
Federal Trade Commission. FTC Announces Latest Enforcement Action Halting Deceptive CBD Product Marketing
11
Agricultural Marketing Service. Information for States and Tribes with USDA-Approved Hemp Plans
12
Transportation Security Administration. Medical Marijuana
13
JAMA Network. Cannabinoid Content and Label Accuracy of Hemp-Derived Topical Products Available Online