Virginia Hemp Firms Seek Federal Halt to August THC Limit

# Virginia Hemp Firms Seek Federal Halt to August THC Limit

INLAND ATLANTIC, July 28, 2026: A group of Virginia hemp businesses announced July 22 that it will ask a federal court to freeze enforcement of the state's new hemp product definition, which takes effect August 15 and would reclassify a large share of the products now on Virginia shelves as marijuana.

Virginia currently treats a product as legal hemp if it holds no more than 0.3 percent total THC by concentration and either no more than 2mg of total THC per package or a 25:1 ratio of CBD to THC. A provision in the state budget eliminates the ratio pathway, leaving the 2mg per package figure as the sole ceiling, according to Richmond BizSense.

Former state senator Chap Petersen is representing the businesses. Barbara Biddle, who owns District Hemp in Northern Virginia and serves as president of the Cannabis Small Business Association, told the outlet on July 21 that the filing was expected within days and that the goal is to pause the change rather than undo it. "We're not trying to dismantle this new cannabis market, but we are trying to save businesses that have invested in the structure that Virginia built and told us to invest in," Biddle said. The association is not a party to the action.

The timing carries particular weight for beverage makers, because the threshold is measured per package rather than per container or per serving. Mountain High Seltzer, the first hemp THC seltzer to reach statewide Virginia distribution through Hoffman Beverage and Virginia Eagle, is formulated at 2mg of Delta-9 THC and 4mg of CBD per can. Regulated retail marijuana sales in Virginia do not begin until July 1, 2027. Oversight of hemp products also shifts from the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to the Cannabis Control Authority in August, the CCA said, with existing retail facility registrations valid until they expire.

In North Carolina, the state's leading law enforcement and prosecutor organizations pressed House members on July 27 to adopt the House Bill 328 conference report, which the Senate passed 37-6 on July 2. The memo was signed by the N.C. Sheriffs' Association, the N.C. Association of Chiefs of Police, the N.C. Police Executives Association, the State Bureau of Investigation, the State Highway Patrol, Alcohol Law Enforcement and the N.C. Conference of District Attorneys, according to WUNC, which obtained the document. "Do not be fooled by those attempting to tell you that this conference report is bad or contains some hidden trick," the memo said.

The House had been expected to take the report up on its July 27 return. It did not. Members are holding no-vote sessions and plan to come back to Raleigh the week of August 3, WUNC reported. A spokeswoman for Speaker Destin Hall said adoption is "ultimately up to the Republican caucus." The bill would make any product above 0.4mg of total THC per container a Schedule VI controlled substance starting in November and bar sales to anyone under 21, with penalties reaching $50,000 for repeat offenses. Rick Brownfield of Chatham County-based Rocky River Hemp said the threshold "puts me out of business and just about every hemp producer in North Carolina," while adding that he supports the age-21 restriction.

Delaware's Office of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commissioner published its own summary of House Bill 373 on July 22, adding a requirement not detailed in earlier accounts: package stores and microbreweries licensed by the OABCC must separately request a permit from the agency before selling THC-infused beverages. The summary also describes the retail channel as package stores and microbreweries, matching the Office of the Marijuana Commissioner's July 16 account and differing from earlier descriptions that named marijuana retailers. The measure carries a $0.50 per-container tax and takes effect 90 days after Governor Matt Meyer signs it. No signing date has been announced.

Elsewhere in the region, the Maryland Cannabis Administration closed a public comment period July 27 on proposed rule changes covering conditional license extensions, cultivator labor standards, a sublingual pouch category and youth-appealing packaging, though the package does not address hemp-derived beverages directly. Kentucky has still not confirmed whether its Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control met a July 1 statutory deadline to promulgate its own cannabis-infused beverage regulations, and Tennessee's alcohol commission has reported no enforcement actions in the four weeks since it took over hemp licensing.

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*Not legal advice. Regulatory status changes frequently and sources sometimes disagree on effective dates and thresholds; verify against primary sources before acting.*