The Hemp/THCA Ban Just Killed a $28 Billion Industry in One Signature – Here’s Exactly What Died and Who Pays the Price

signed a spending bill that quietly ended the biggest loophole in American drug history. THCA – the raw, non-psychoactive compound in hemp that turns into regular THC when you smoke or vape it – just got reclassified. Starting November 13, 2026, anything over 0.3 % total THC/THCA is federally illegal. No more delta-8 vapes at the gas station. No more “THCA flower” that gets you just as high as dispensary weed. No more $28 billion hemp intoxicants industry. Timeline for the confused: • 2018 Farm Bill: Hemp legal if <0.3 % delta-9 THC • Clever humans: Grow hemp loaded with THCA → heat → intoxicating → 100 % federally legal • 2019–2025: Industry explodes to $28 B, 320 k jobs, entire rural economies reborn • Nov 13, 2025: Loophole closed in a 1,000-page spending bill nobody read • Nov 13, 2026: Everything dies unless Congress acts Real numbers that should make you angry: • 320,000 jobs gone (farmers, processors, truckers, smoke-shop clerks) • Kentucky alone loses $1 B+ and 50 k jobs • Texas: 40 k displaced • $13 B in wages evaporate overnight Who wins? Black market. Big Cannabis in legal states (less competition). Alcohol lobby (quietly popping champagne). Who loses? Rural red-state farmers who just voted for the guy who signed the bill. Rep. Nancy Mace already filed a full repeal. Kentucky senators are screaming. But insiders say it’s probably dead. If you live in a prohibition state and liked being able to buy legal-ish edibles at the corner store… enjoy the next 12 months. What’s the craziest thing you’ve seen pulled from shelves already? How long do you give delta-8 before it’s completely gone? (If you want daily vice-industry news with zero corporate fluff, I drop it every morning on X – @yannitesh22) Sources: MJBizDaily, Whitney Economics, Marijuana Moment, Farm Bill text