Delaware Weighs Rival Plans to Rein In Hemp THC Products

Delaware’s General Assembly is weighing four competing bills to regulate hemp-derived THC products — gummies, vapes, infused beverages, and more — with the current legislative session set to close in late June 2026 and no consensus yet on which approach to take.

The core tension isn’t whether to regulate; it’s who gets to sell. Delaware Cannabis dispensaries want hemp-THC products folded into the licensed Cannabis system, effectively restricting their sale to licensed stores. Hemp shops and smoke shop owners want a separate licensing track that lets them stay in business. Both positions are backed by competing legislation, and the session clock is adding pressure that lawmakers have not yet been able to resolve.

Four Bills, Two Very Different Visions

House Bill 395, introduced April 30, 2026 by Rep. Nnamdi Chukwuocha (D-Wilmington), takes the most restrictive approach. It would bring all hemp-derived intoxicating THC products under Delaware’s Cannabis licensing framework, meaning they could only be sold at licensed Cannabis stores. The bill sets a 0.4 milligram total THC cap for finished products — aligning Delaware with a federal standard Congress enacted last fall that takes effect nationally in November 2026. Unlicensed sales of intoxicating products would carry escalating criminal penalties, up to felony level for sales near schools, daycares, or public parks.

Delaware Marijuana Commissioner Joshua Sanderlin backed the approach at a House committee hearing, arguing that intoxicating hemp products and Cannabis products are functionally the same and should be regulated the same way. According to the commissioner, Delaware has issued 90 of the 125 Cannabis licenses authorized under its adult-use rollout. According to state enforcement officials, the Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Enforcement has sent more than 70 cease-and-desist letters to over 60 businesses selling hemp-derived THC products outside the licensed marketplace. HB 395 cleared its House committee on May 14, 2026, and is now before the full House.

The competing House Bill 401, sponsored by Rep. Sean Lynn (D-Dover) and Sen. Kyra Hoffner (D-Smyrna), charts a different course. Rather than folding hemp products into the Cannabis system, HB 401 would create a standalone licensing regime for hemp-derived cannabinoid products, administered by the Office of the Marijuana Commissioner. Licensed retailers could sell to adults 21 and older, with a 10 milligram per serving THC cap, mandatory lab testing for potency and contaminants, and packaging requirements designed to prevent child appeal. A 6 percent excise tax would apply — less than half the 15 percent tax on Cannabis sales. Gas stations, grocery stores, and convenience stores would be ineligible. Existing hemp retailers could qualify for provisional licenses by showing they were operating before April 1, 2025 and that hemp products made up at least 40 percent of their prior sales.

HB 401 did not collect enough committee signatures to advance, though Lynn said it was still gathering support and expected to move.

A third measure, House Bill 373, sponsored by Rep. Debra Heffernan (D-Bellefonte), takes the narrowest scope: it would regulate only THC-infused beverages, routing them through Delaware’s alcohol licensing system so that licensed package stores, Cannabis dispensaries, and licensed microbreweries could sell them for off-premises consumption. The bill caps single-container THC content at 10 milligrams and sets a 50-cent per container tax. A fourth bill, also from Hoffner, would establish a clearer legal distinction between hemp and Cannabis products under state law and restrict law enforcement from treating the presence of hemp products alone as grounds for arrest or search.

Industry at an Impasse

The hearings have sharpened the fault lines.

Delaware Cannabis licensees — who navigated the state’s full licensing process, including strict zoning rules, security requirements, and seed-to-sale tracking — argue that allowing hemp shops to operate under lighter requirements rewards businesses that bypassed those standards. The Delaware Cannabis Industry Association has been among the most vocal opponents of HB 401, with its director arguing that the bill would create a low-cost path to sell intoxicating products for operators who didn’t follow the same rules.

Hemp retailers and smoke shop owners push back. Their argument is that they built consumer demand for cannabis-adjacent products before the licensed Cannabis market existed, and that forcing them out now is the wrong policy response. Lynn has noted that his bill would also allow licensed Cannabis retailers to carry hemp products — rejecting the idea that the two systems are inherently in competition.

State alcohol and tobacco regulators flagged a separate technical concern with HB 401: its current language focuses primarily on delta-9 THC, potentially leaving gaps for other hemp-derived intoxicating compounds like delta-8. Regulators also told lawmakers the bill doesn’t clearly empower them to inspect retailers or seize noncompliant products.

Delaware is navigating a version of the same conflict playing out in states across the country. Virginia hemp groups framed a similar standoff after the governor vetoed a cannabis retail bill in May 2026, and Texas spent months caught in its own on-and-off hemp enforcement cycle. In each case, the arrival of licensed Cannabis sharpened a preexisting conflict between licensed dispensaries and the unregulated hemp channel.

What the Session Clock Means

HB 395 has the clearer legislative path: it passed committee and carries support from the Marijuana commissioner and enforcement officials. HB 401 offers the hemp sector a survival option but remains stalled and faces pushback on its enforcement design. HB 373 is still in committee.

If none of the bills reach the governor’s desk before the session closes, Delaware’s unregulated hemp-THC market stays open — a gap state enforcement officials have been trying to close for more than a year.