Extract / product THC threshold

Hemp's famous 0.3% THC limit is written for the plant in the field — but the harder question is what THC level is allowed in the extracts and finished products made from it: the oils, isolates and edibles that reach consumers.

In the United States, the 2018 Farm Bill (7 U.S.C. § 1639o) sets the 0.3% delta-9 THC ceiling on a dry-weight basis, a figure designed for raw biomass. Concentrating that biomass into an extract can push THC well above 0.3% by weight, creating a grey zone the statute never cleanly addressed — and fuelling the boom in intoxicating hemp-derived products such as delta-8 THC. The FDA separately maintains that CBD cannot lawfully be added to food or sold as a dietary supplement, whatever the THC level.

In the European Union, finished CBD products face the novel food regime rather than a single extract-THC number, and several member states set their own trace-THC limits for what may be sold. The result is a patchwork: the same extract can be a compliant wellness product in one market and an illegal high-THC good in another.