Every official state licensing link, a plain-English breakdown of current hemp law, and the steps to run a fully compliant hemp business — free and public, verified September 29, 2026.
Start here
Compliance is two layers: the federal rules every hemp business lives under, then your state's licenses, product rules and taxes. Work down this list, then open your state for the exact links.
Layer 1 · Federal
USDA hemp producer licensing (growers)
Every grower operates under a USDA-approved state or tribal plan, or a USDA license where the state has none — most state pages below link the state program; the rest point here.
FDA's position on cannabinoids in food, supplements and cosmetics
Regulates hemp cannabinoids in food, dietary supplements, drugs and cosmetics under the FD&C Act; must publish the P.L. 119-37 cannabinoid lists. Unapproved health claims are illegal everywhere.
The federal hemp definition changes on December 11, 2026
Public Law 119-37 (Section 781) redefines hemp by total THC including THCA (≤0.3%), excludes cannabinoids synthesized outside the plant, and takes any finished product over 0.4 mg total THC per container out of "hemp". H.R. 6500 delayed most of it from November 12, 2026 to December 11, 2026; the exclusion of non-naturally-occurring cannabinoids still starts November 12, 2026.
Carrier shipping policies (USPS, UPS, FedEx)
Shipping compliant hemp domestically is allowed, but each carrier has its own conditions — signed hemp agreements, adult signature, no vapes, no international or APO/FPO mail, and lab tests on file.
Federal to-do list
Also: 7 U.S.C. § 1639o – definition of hemp (2018 Farm Bill, Agricultural Marketing Act §297A) · 7 CFR Part 990 – USDA Domestic Hemp Production Program final rule · DEA interim final rule (2020-08-21) implementing the 2018 Farm Bill – synthetically derived THC and >0.3% delta-9 THC material remain Schedule I · FDA – What you need to know about products containing cannabis or cannabis-derived compounds · USPS Publication 52 §453 – Controlled Substances and Drugs (§453.37 hemp-based products)
Layer 2 · Your state
Register the business
Form the entity with the Secretary of State, get an EIN, and register for the state sales-and-use tax permit. Every state's own step list starts here.
Get the state hemp license or registration
Growers license with the state agriculture department (or USDA where the state has no plan); processors and manufacturers usually need a separate license; many states now also require a retailer or online-seller registration, sometimes per location or per web domain.
Register products where the state requires it
Some states register or approve each cannabinoid product, its label, or its brand before it can be sold. Check the state's licenses list for product-registration links.
Test every batch and keep the COA
Use an ISO 17025-accredited (and, where required, DEA-registered or state-approved) lab; test total THC including THCA plus contaminants. Keep batch COAs, licenses and records — three years is the common floor.
Label, package and age-gate correctly
Child-resistant packaging, required warnings, a scannable COA/QR code and serving information are the norm; 21+ sales with ID checks apply wherever the state sets an age. Never make health or disease claims.
Collect the taxes and stay inspectable
Sales tax always applies; several states add a hemp excise tax at retail or per container. Expect inspections and keep production, complaint and recall records ready.
Each state page below lists the agencies, the exact license and registration links with fees, the governing statutes, the testing rules and a numbered step list for that state.
State by state
Retail licensing, minimum age, THC caps, the key law, research confidence and the live Good Hemp Distro Recreational (21+) market status (19 of 51 open right now). Open a state for its official links.
AL
HB 445 (2025) created Title 28, Chapter 12 and, effective January 1, 2026, moved consumable hemp products (edibles, beverages, tinctures, topicals) under the ABC Board, which licenses…
AK
Alaska runs a state hemp program under AS 03.05.076 and 11 AAC 40 (effective Nov 3, 2023) that requires growers, processors and retailers to register with the Division of Agriculture and…
AZ
Arizona has no consumable-hemp product license or registration: the Department of Agriculture licenses only hemp growers, harvesters, transporters, processors and nurseries, and its FAQ…
AR
Arkansas bans intoxicating hemp products: Act 629 of 2023 scheduled delta-8, delta-9 and delta-10 THC derived from hemp as controlled substances, the 8th Circuit lifted the injunction on…
Since the CDPH emergency regulations of September 23, 2024 (since readopted and now codified by AB 8, Chapter 248 of 2025, signed Oct 2, 2025 and effective Jan 1, 2026), industrial hemp…
CO
Colorado allows non-intoxicating hemp products at general retail but pushes intoxicating ones into the marijuana system. Under SB 23-271 (June 2023) and CDPHE/MED rules, hemp products sold…
Connecticut sorts hemp products by THC per container: high-THC hemp products (more than 5 mg total THC per container, or flower/trim over 0.3%) are treated as cannabis and may be sold only…
DE
Delaware has no consumable-hemp retail license: the Department of Agriculture licenses only hemp producers, processors and handlers, and non-beverage hemp-derived THC products (gummies…
The District has no hemp program, no consumable-hemp license and no state-level hemp product standards; growers would need a federal USDA hemp producer license. Since 2025 the Council's…
FL
Florida permits hemp extract products (including hemp-derived THC edibles, beverages and inhalables) that stay at or below 0.3% total delta-9 THC, but regulates them as food under s…
GA
Since SB 494 took effect October 1, 2024, Georgia requires GDA licenses for every tier of consumable hemp: growers, processors ($500), hemp product manufacturers, consumable hemp…
HI
Hawaii regulates finished hemp products through the Department of Health: processors need a DOH hemp processor permit, and under Act 269 (SLH 2025, HB 1482) every retailer, distributor and…
ID
Idaho has no marijuana program and the strictest hemp product rule in the country: hemp may be grown and processed under ISDA producer and handler licenses (H0126 of 2021; Idaho Code…
IL
Illinois enacted the Illinois Hemp Act (Public Act 104-463, SB 3222) on June 12, 2026. Effective immediately, hemp products containing more than 0.4 mg total THC per container may be sold…
IN
Indiana has no state license, registration, age limit or milligram cap for consumable hemp-derived products; only hemp cultivation and handling are licensed (by the Office of Indiana State…
IA
Iowa regulates consumable hemp under Iowa Code chapter 204 and IAC 641-156: manufacturers and retailers (including each retail location) must register annually with Iowa HHS, list their…
KS
Kansas has no consumable-hemp retail license, registration, age limit or milligram cap; hemp products are lawful only if they contain not more than 0.3% total delta-9 THC (delta-9 plus its…
KY
Kentucky allows hemp-derived cannabinoid products, including intoxicating ones, under CHFS regulation (KRS 217.039; HB 544 of 2023; 902 KAR 45): every product must be registered with CHFS…
Louisiana permits consumable hemp products through a two-agency system: LDH must register every product (sponsored by a permitted in-state or out-of-state processor) and ATC must permit…
ME
Maine has no state license or registration for selling consumable hemp products and no per-serving or per-package THC cap; only hemp cultivation is licensed (DACF, 7 MRS §2231), while…
MD
Since the Cannabis Reform Act took effect July 1, 2023, Maryland treats any hemp-derived product with more than 0.5 mg total THC (all isomers, including delta-8/10) per serving or 2.5 mg…
Massachusetts does not allow hemp-derived THC consumables or CBD foods/beverages outside the licensed cannabis system: MDAR policy (updated April 2024) prohibits hemp processors from…
MI
Michigan folds intoxicating hemp into its marijuana system: since October 11, 2021 (2021 PA 56) the MRTMA definition of 'marihuana' covers any product whose total THC (all isomers…
Minnesota licenses hemp-derived THC products as 'lower-potency hemp edibles' (LPHEs) under Minn. Stat. ch. 342: edibles may contain no more than 5 mg delta-9 THC per serving and 50 mg per…
Mississippi has no state licensing, registration, age limit or THC cap for consumable hemp products and no funded state hemp cultivation program (growers license through USDA under the…
MO
Until November 12, 2026 Missouri has no state license, age limit or THC cap for consumable hemp products (growers license through USDA since the state program ended January 1, 2023)…
MT
Montana licenses hemp growers and processors through the Department of Agriculture under a USDA-approved plan (MCA 80-18), but has no consumable-hemp retail license. HB 948 (May 22, 2023)…
NE
Nebraska has no state license or registration for making or selling consumable hemp products; the only license a hemp business needs from government is a USDA hemp producer license to grow…
NV
Nevada certifies hemp growers, handlers and seed producers through the Department of Agriculture (NRS/NAC 557) but issues no consumable-hemp retail license; hemp and finished products must…
New Hampshire has no state hemp program and no consumable-hemp license: growers obtain a USDA producer license, and processors/retailers need only ordinary business and food licensing. RSA…
New Jersey licenses hemp growers and processors/handlers through the Department of Agriculture and, since P.L.2025, c.215 (S4509, signed Jan 12, 2026, effective Jan 13, 2026), treats any…
New Mexico licenses hemp growers through NMDA and requires NMED Cannabis & Hemp Bureau permits ($1,000) for hemp extraction, manufacturing and warehouse facilities; retailers selling…
NY
New York requires an OCM license to process, manufacture or sell cannabinoid hemp products: a Cannabinoid Hemp Retailer License ($300 per location per year) for every in-state store or…
North Carolina has no state hemp license of any kind: cultivation is licensed only by USDA (the state pilot program ended June 30, 2022 and NCDA&CS no longer registers processors), and…
North Dakota licenses hemp growers ($100–$350) and processors ($200) through the Department of Agriculture and does not license hemp retailers, but it tightly limits what hemp products may…
OH
Ohio SB 56, signed Dec 19, 2025 and effective March 20, 2026, redefines hemp as cannabis with not more than 0.3% total THC and provides that a final hemp-derived cannabinoid product may…
OK
Oklahoma licenses hemp growers ($500 + acreage) and processors/handlers ($1,000–$5,000 by sales tier) through ODAFF under the Oklahoma Industrial Hemp Program, but has no license…
OR
Oregon is a fully licensed market: ODA licenses growers ($350 + $875 per grow site), handlers ($2,275) and hemp vendor sites ($100 per retail/wholesale location), and since Jan 1, 2026 (HB…
Pennsylvania issues annual hemp growing and processing permits through the Department of Agriculture ($150 new / $50 renewal) but has no license, age minimum, per-serving THC cap or…
Rhode Island licenses hemp-derived consumable product retailers and distributors through the Cannabis Control Commission's Cannabis Office (license $500/yr plus $250 application fee), and…
South Carolina has no state license or registration for selling finished hemp/CBD products at retail or online; the Hemp Farming Act expressly does not apply to the possession, handling…
South Dakota has no license or registration for selling finished hemp/CBD products at retail or online and sets no state age limit or per-serving THC cap; only growing and processing raw…
Since 2026-01-01 Tennessee regulates hemp-derived cannabinoid products (delta-8, delta-10, HHC, THCv, hemp-derived delta-9, etc.) through the Alcoholic Beverage Commission under Public…
TX
Texas requires a DSHS consumable hemp manufacturer license ($10,000/yr per location) to make, process or distribute consumable hemp products and a DSHS retail hemp registration ($5,000/yr…
UT
Utah requires every retailer of hemp cannabinoid products, including online sellers, to hold an annual UDAF Industrial Hemp Retailer Permit ($100), and every product must be registered…
VT
Vermont has no state cultivation license (growers use USDA since the state plan ended 2022-12-31) and, until Act 178, no registration for selling non-intoxicating hemp/CBD products. Under…
VA
Virginia requires every retail location selling regulated hemp products (smokable or ingestible hemp/CBD, including hemp-derived THC products) to register with the Cannabis Control…
Washington licenses only hemp growers (WSDA producer license, $1,200/yr); processors may register voluntarily and there is no state license or registration for selling hemp/CBD products at…
West Virginia requires every hemp-derived cannabinoid product sold in the state to be registered annually with the Department of Agriculture by its manufacturer ($200/product, capped at…
Wisconsin has no state hemp program: DATCP stopped licensing growers on 2022-01-01 and hemp producers are licensed directly by USDA. There is no state license or registration for making or…
WY
Wyoming licenses hemp producers and processors through the Department of Agriculture ($750 application fee) and has no license, registration, age limit or per-serving THC cap for selling…
Plain-English answers from the official federal sources above (verified September 29, 2026). Not legal advice.
Size a hempcrete or hemp-insulation job with the hemp material estimator, browse every hemp product category the marketplace carries, or find hempcrete builders and developers and COA testing labs in the services directory. The education hub covers the compliance basics.
Laws move fast. If your state changed its rules or an official page moved, tell us and we'll re-verify. Selling on Good Hemp Distro? Vendor registration walks you through the documents we ask for.
Not legal advice. Links and summaries verified September 29, 2026; laws change — always confirm with the official links and a licensed attorney before you sell.