Dec. 4: Rhode Island hemp businesses can quarantine, not sell, THC stock over the Dec. 11 federal limit

Rhode Island hemp businesses holding intoxicating products that will exceed a new federal THC limit can keep that inventory after the limit takes effect on Dec. 11, but they cannot sell it, and they must report it to state regulators by Dec. 4, according to updated guidance from the state's Cannabis Control Commission reported by Rhode Island Current.

The change softens the commission's earlier position. In a Sept. 11 bulletin, regulators had warned that products over the new federal limit "must be removed" before the deadline or businesses could face fines. The newer Oct. 8 bulletin instead lets hemp licensees quarantine existing inventory that contains more than 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container, Rhode Island Current reported on Oct. 21. Marijuana Moment republished the report on Oct. 26.

What the updated guidance says

According to Rhode Island Current, the commission included the quarantine policy in an email sent on Oct. 9 to all 201 of the state's hemp licensees. The notice says quarantined products "are not permitted to be further processed, moved, distributed and/or be offered for sale unless explicitly authorized by the federal government and/or the Cannabis Control Commission."

Under the bulletin, as described by Rhode Island Current:

• Hemp licensees must submit an inventory report to the commission by Dec. 4.
• After Dec. 11, businesses cannot add products to, or remove products from, their quarantined inventory.
• Businesses can ask to destroy quarantined products at any time, but the state's Cannabis Office must supervise the destruction.
• Regulators may conduct inspections and inventory audits.

Charon Rose, a spokesperson for the commission, told Rhode Island Current that regulators updated the guidance to avoid forcing businesses to destroy inventory while it remains uncertain whether Congress might change course again before the deadline. "We just want to be mindful," Rose said.

The federal limit behind the deadline

The Dec. 11 date comes from federal law. Congress rewrote the federal definition of hemp in legislation that reopened the government after last year's shutdown, closing what Rhode Island Current described as a potency loophole created by the 2018 Farm Bill. The 2018 law legalized hemp with a THC concentration of 0.3% or less by dry weight, but it did not account for ways to convert the plant into higher-potency products such as infused drinks.

Under the new definition, federal law will prohibit the sale of hemp-derived cannabinoid products containing more than 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container starting Dec. 11, according to Rhode Island Current. The limit was first set to take effect Nov. 12. Lawmakers pushed it back one month in a short-term government funding bill that President Donald Trump signed in September. That law, Public Law 119-103, includes a section titled "Section 781 Extension" that runs "until December 11, 2026."

U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., was among the 90 senators who voted for the one-month delay in August, Rhode Island Current reported. A spokesperson for Reed, Ben Craig, told the outlet that the senator supported the delay to give lawmakers more time to develop "balanced regulations" for hemp-infused products. Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha, meanwhile, signed a multistate letter in August urging Congress to reject efforts to "delay, repeal, suspend, or weaken" the new federal restrictions, according to the outlet.

Who is affected

Rhode Island's regulated hemp market generated $2.85 million in sales in 2025, according to commission data reported by Rhode Island Current. THC-infused drinks and seltzers accounted for $2.36 million of that, or about 83%. The state had 201 licensed hemp businesses as of Oct. 1, including 169 retailers.

THC drinks derived from hemp were illegal in Rhode Island until August 2024, when the state's former Office of Cannabis Regulation began allowing sales of products with low levels of delta-9 THC at licensed retailers, including vape shops, liquor stores and some bars, the outlet reported. Current state rules allow products to contain up to 1 milligram of total THC per serving or 5 milligrams per package, according to Rhode Island Current, well above the coming federal cap of 0.4 milligrams per container.

Lovewell Farms in Hopkinton, which Rhode Island Current described as the state's only outdoor hemp farm, launched a THC-infused sparkling lemonade in September. Its workers raised concerns with regulators several times, including at a Sept. 18 commission meeting where they suggested updating the guidance. Co-founder Mike Simpson told the outlet that the new guidance, while helpful, does little to clarify what growers should do with their inventory. "Essentially they say we're allowed to grow, and none of that is going to be affected… but then I can't sell any of it," he said. "It really makes no sense."

Craft Collective Homegrown, a Massachusetts-based beverage distributor and wholesaler, had challenged the September guidance in an Oct. 7 letter to the commission, according to Rhode Island Current. The company asked that businesses be allowed to hold high-potency THC products for up to six months, with the inventory tracked and inspected and no sales permitted. CEO Adam Oliveri called the updated guidance a "meaningful step forward" in preserving the state's hemp industry.

The state's position

In an earlier Rhode Island Current report on Oct. 6, the commission's chief legal counsel, Mariana Ormonde, said the state's hands are tied when it comes to the federal change. "The reality of the situation is we can't treat hemp like cannabis because it's not cannabis," she said. Asked why the state enforces the federal hemp limit while allowing adult-use cannabis, which has never been legal under federal law, Ormonde said the federal government has imposed a new restriction on hemp that the state cannot disregard. "Federal law is the supreme law of the land," she said.

Ormonde told the outlet then that the commission was trying to avoid telling businesses to shut down outright before the federal deadline. "We kind of have to wait and see what the federal government does before we can sort of act and advise our licensees in accordance with that," she said.

Retailers face other practical problems. Nick Fede Jr., president of the American Beverage Licensees, told Rhode Island Current in October that the change could make it harder for retailers to take card payments for hemp products, because banks may no longer allow credit card sales, as is already the case at the state's licensed cannabis shops.

What happens next

Open questions remain. Oliveri and Simpson asked whether businesses would need separate approval from the commission to resume testing, processing and selling quarantined products if federal law changes after Dec. 11, Rhode Island Current reported. Simpson also asked whether the commission would have to update its own hemp regulations to match the new federal definition, a step that would require a public comment period.

Rose said regulators are continuing to assess how changing federal requirements could affect quarantined products and the state's regulations. "Any changes to federal law or guidance could affect the requirements applicable to these products and the steps necessary for licensees to resume activities that are currently restricted," she wrote in an email to the outlet.

For now, the key dates for Rhode Island licensees are Dec. 4, when inventory reports are due, and Dec. 11, when the federal limit takes effect. Other states are setting their own timelines. In Illinois, the Department of Revenue says that beginning Nov. 12, any consumable or topical product with more than 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container will no longer count as hemp under state law, and only licensed cannabis dispensaries may sell such products.