HARRISBURG, PA — Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday joined 34 other attorneys general this week in pressing congressional leaders to preserve the federal government’s 2025 redefinition of hemp, warning that weakening the standard could revive sales of intoxicating hemp-derived products and disrupt businesses already adapting to the rules.
The bipartisan coalition urged congressional leaders and the chairs of the House and Senate appropriations committees to reject efforts to delay, repeal, suspend or weaken the revised federal definition.
Congress changed the definition of hemp in November 2025 after concerns that the 2018 Farm Bill had created a regulatory opening for intoxicating hemp-derived products to be sold outside frameworks traditionally applied to marijuana and other intoxicants.
The attorneys general argued that states, federal agencies and businesses have already begun adjusting to the new standard, with some states aligning or preparing to align their laws and enforcement practices with the federal definition.
Reversing course now, the coalition warned, could increase regulatory uncertainty and litigation while creating new compliance costs for businesses that have already adapted to the revised framework.
The attorneys general also argued that weakening the definition could allow unregulated intoxicating hemp products to return more broadly to the market.
“Pennsylvanians have a right to know what they’re buying and confidence that products with intoxicating effects are being sold responsibly and not marketed to children,” Sunday said.
He argued that maintaining the tighter standard would protect consumers while giving businesses operating within the law greater regulatory certainty.
“Closing these loopholes, and ensuring they stay closed, protects consumers, supports businesses that follow the law, and makes it harder for intoxicating products to end up in the hands of children,” Sunday said.
The coalition urged Congress to keep the November 2025 definition intact rather than reopen provisions it described as a loophole in the 2018 Farm Bill.
The letter was also signed by attorneys general representing Arkansas, Connecticut, Indiana, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.
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