The 2018 Farm Bill (Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, P.L. 115-334) is the federal legislation that legalized hemp in the United States. Signed by President Trump in December 2018, the bill defined hemp as cannabis sativa L. containing less than 0.3% Δ9 THC by dry weight — removing it from the Controlled Substances Act. Hemp became an agricultural commodity regulated by USDA, with state-level programs authorized. The 2018 Farm Bill is the legal foundation of the entire modern US hemp industry: CBD products, Δ8 THC products, and — most consequentially — THCa hemp flower. The bill did not specify a total-THC threshold, which enabled the THCa flower market (where raw hemp plants can test below 0.3% Δ9 while carrying 25%+ THCa). Section 781 of P.L. 119-37 closes this gap effective November 12, 2026, redefining the threshold as total THC. See THCa vs Δ9 for the full regulatory context.
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