Hemp ban tucked into shutdown deal could upend Georgia businesses and lives
A last-minute deal to reopen the federal government is drawing new scrutiny, not for what it funds, but for what it quietly bans.
Buried deep in the agreement is a provision that would make many hemp-derived products illegal, rolling back a major piece of the 2018 Farm Bill and threatening a fast-growing industry in Georgia.
The ban wouldn't take effect for a year, but advocates say the damage could begin immediately.
The Hemp Industries Association called the measure the potential "devastation of an entire industry" — one that only recently gained legal footing after Congress carved hemp out of the Controlled Substances Act in 2018.
From legalization to limitation
For decades, federal law treated hemp and marijuana the same.
The 1970 Controlled Substances Act classified all forms of cannabis — regardless of THC level — as Schedule I drugs. Only stalks, sterilized seeds, and fiber were exempt.
The 2018 Farm Bill changed that, defining hemp as cannabis containing no more than 0.3% delta-9 THC and fully legalizing its production and interstate transport.
Georgia businesses took off, selling hemp-derived THC beverages and edibles that fell within the law's chemical definitions.
The shutdown bill attempts to reverse that.
A new rule — and a return to the past
According to legal analysts, the new provision would require any THC in a product to be directly extracted from the plant and restricted to trace levels, effectively wiping out most hemp-derived drinks and edibles currently sold across Georgia.
Kyle Townsend, a professor at Georgia State University's School of Hospitality, explains it this way:
"Ultimately, one of the big things this bill is proposing is where the source of the THC comes from."
That shift in sourcing, not just potency, could shutter businesses overnight.
A business saved… now at risk again
One of those businesses is Scofflaw Brewing Co., a well-known Atlanta brand that pivoted from beer to THC-infused beverages last year. Co-founder Matt Shirah says that shift kept the company alive.
"We've been manufacturing for some time now for other people and we just turned the corner to become profitable now and add some jobs," said Shirah.
Scofflaw now employs 101 Georgians. But if the shutdown-deal ban takes effect, Shirah says he'll have no choice but to close the doors.
"We'll have to start eliminating positions… cutting back on payroll, cutting back on production."
Among those jobs is one held by a Marine Corps veteran who says these products did more than pay the bills — they helped him stay alive.
A veteran's sobriety on the line
Just last month, Maxwell Navarra proudly celebrated a milestone: "I am 656 days sober right now."
Today, the father of two says he is overwhelmed.
"I'm confused trying to navigate through sobriety now."
Navarra says he turned to alcohol after severe PTSD episodes. Hemp-derived THC beverages, he says, became a safer alternative.
"This has kind of been an alternative option to cutting dry completely, I guess."
Now, he fears losing both his job at Scofflaw and a product that helped him get sober.
A year to prepare or a year to panic?
The federal ban wouldn't begin for 12 months. But uncertainty is already rippling through Georgia's hemp and beverage sectors — industries that employ thousands statewide.
Farmers warn that crop contracts for next season may be canceled. Retailers fear they may soon be holding inventory they can no longer sell. And for people like Navarra, the consequences feel deeply personal.
What happens over the next year could determine whether Georgia's hemp economy survives — or whether this shutdown deal marks its undoing.
CBS News Atlanta will continue to follow developments as Congress moves toward final passage.