ATLANTA, Ga. — Georgia hemp retailers, processors and farmers are counting down to Dec. 11, when a federal limit on THC in consumable hemp products takes effect and could clear most of what the state’s shops now sell off their shelves.
The change was written into Section 781 of Public Law 119-37, part of a government funding package, and it rewrites the legal definition of hemp. Each finished product’s container will be capped at 0.4 milligrams of total THC, the count will include THCA, and cannabinoids made outside the plant are banned. Typical edibles and drinks carry 2.5 to 10 milligrams per serving, so for most of them the new ceiling works as a ban.
Industry analysts expect nine of every 10 consumable hemp products now for sale to lose legal status. Georgia has about 4,100 licensed consumable hemp businesses, from farms and extractors to testing labs and shops, and estimates put yearly retail sales at risk in the state between $600 million and $1 billion.
The deadline has already slipped once. Enforcement was first planned for November, but a later law, Public Law 119-103, moved the main date to Dec. 11 to give Congress time to weigh other options. Products containing cannabinoids that the plant cannot produce naturally face an earlier date, Nov. 12.
Georgia already has its own rules. Senate Bill 494, carried by state Sen. Sam Watson of Moultrie, set a 21-and-older age limit, child-resistant packaging and lab testing, and it ended retail sales of raw smokable flower. The state also limits gummies to 10 mg of delta-9 THC apiece and 300 mg per package, and a product has to meet both the state and federal limits.
Backers of the federal cap point to young children. A study in the journal Pediatrics found accidental edible exposures among kids rose 1,375% nationwide from 2017 to 2021, and the Georgia Poison Center has fielded nearly 200 calls tied to alternative and synthetic THC products.
Georgia’s U.S. House members split by party on the spending package, which passed 222-209. Unless Congress approves a different approach before Dec. 11, store owners will have to sell off or pull the affected stock.
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