It's June. November Is Five Months Away. Here's What We Know.
Salisbury, NC — June 12, 2026
Customers ask us, almost daily, some version of the same question: what's going to happen? Are the laws changing? Is the store staying open?
The honest answer is that nobody knows yet — not us, not the legislators, not the lawyers. But there's a lot of half-information floating around, so here's a plain rundown of where things actually stand as of mid-June.
The federal clock is the big one. Last November, Congress passed a law that redefines hemp. Starting November 12, 2026, the federal definition would count total THC — including THCA — and cap finished products at a level so low that most hemp products on the market today, flower included, would no longer qualify as hemp under federal law. That's the deadline everyone in this industry is watching.
But that date isn't set in stone. There are bills in Congress right now that would delay the change by two years, and others that would replace the ban with actual regulation — testing standards, age limits, licensing — instead of prohibition. None has passed yet. Five months is a long time in politics, and it's also not very long at all. Both things are true.
Here in North Carolina, the picture is mixed. The bill moving through Raleigh right now, Senate Bill 59, would set a statewide minimum age of 21 to buy hemp products. That's it — it doesn't ban anything, and it doesn't legalize anything. (For what it's worth, we've always carded at 21. We'd welcome that becoming law.) But not everyone in Raleigh wants to stop there: the Senate's top leader said this week he'd personally prefer a full ban, at least temporarily. He's one voice — and the state's own Advisory Council on Cannabis came to a different conclusion this spring, recommending in its interim report that the legislature regulate the market rather than prohibit it. Worth remembering as the debate plays out: hemp in North Carolina is roughly a billion-dollar-a-year industry supporting thousands of jobs. A separate bill to put cannabis legalization on the November ballot got headlines in May, but it's sitting in committee and isn't expected to move.
Other states are a preview of how messy this can get. Texas spent the spring in a back-and-forth of court rulings over its rules targeting THCA flower; as of this week the rules are back in effect, but the state hasn't said whether it will actually enforce them. Tennessee's ban on THCA sales takes effect July 1. Different states, different approaches — and in both cases the people who use these products didn't stop existing. The question is just where, and how safely, they'll buy.
Meanwhile, the business keeps growing — fast. Hemp THC beverages did over $1.1 billion in sales nationally in 2024, according to Whitney Economics, with several hundred brands now competing in the category. These drinks are stocked in roughly 30 states and sold alongside beer in liquor stores, convenience chains, and some grocery retailers — including here in North Carolina. Target piloted them in Minnesota stores last fall, and this spring one of the largest alcohol distributors in the country started carrying them. The alcohol industry isn't fighting these products; it's distributing them. None of that guarantees anything about November. But an industry this embedded in everyday retail is a different thing to unwind than one tucked away in smoke shops.
Where does that leave us? Open, stocked, and paying close attention. The cooler is full — hemp beverages in 10, 20, 30, and even 100mg strengths — and we'd love for you to drop by and pick up a cold one.
A customer asked us this week if there was a petition he could sign. There isn't, really. Calling your representatives still matters, but most of you who would have done that already have. So here's something different. The next time you're in Walmart, Food Lion, Harris Teeter, or Aldi, ask the manager one simple question: "Do you ever plan to carry hemp beverages? I'd love to see them here." Big retailers track customer requests — it's how categories get on shelves. And the more embedded these products become in everyday shopping, the harder they are to legislate away.
We'll be honest with you: big grocery selling hemp drinks isn't obviously good for a small shop like ours. We'd rather share the shelf and keep the category alive than keep it to ourselves and lose it.
When something actually changes — in Raleigh or in Washington — you'll hear it from us in plain language, the same way we'd explain a COA.
Thanks for asking the hard questions. Keep asking them.
PhenomWell