Trump signed the hemp delay on September 2. Act 9072 did not move with it

As of September 3, 2026. President Trump signed the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027, on September 2. The law funds the federal government through December 11 and carries a delay of the new federal hemp restrictions, which had been set to take effect on November 12. The House passed the measure 370 to 48 on September 1. The Senate had passed the same text 90 to 6 in August.

The Virgin Islands prohibition did not move.

What is now law

The delayed provisions replace the 2018 Farm Bill definition of hemp, 0.3 percent delta-9 THC on a dry-weight basis, with a limit of 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container for finished hemp-derived cannabinoid products. Total THC counts tetrahydrocannabinolic acid, which the older standard did not. That change now arrives on December 11 rather than November 12, a difference of 29 days.

Forty-eight members voted against the bill, 19 Republicans and 29 Democrats, per The Hill.

One provision keeps its original date. Cannabinoids not capable of being naturally produced by a Cannabis sativa L. plant lose federal hemp status on November 12 as enacted, because the delay carves them out. Two provisions, two dates: November 12 for synthetics, December 11 for the definition change.

The extension does not repeal the underlying law. It moves a date.

Act 9072 runs on its own clock

Act 9072, signed by Governor Albert Bryan Jr. on January 23, 2026, took effect on signing and had been in force for 223 days as of September 3. It bars the sale, possession, or manufacture of THCA, delta-6 THC, delta-8 THC, delta-10 THC, and other intoxicating hemp and artificially derived cannabinoid products in the territory without a license. Nothing in the territorial law was conditioned on a federal date, and nothing in the federal funding law reaches it.

A retailer on St. Croix or St. Thomas is in the same position after the signing as before it. The Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs halt order of February 17 stands. Act 9079 has replaced the inventory-surrender provision with a sell-through window. Chief Judge Robert Molloy’s temporary restraining order of February 25 still bars enforcement of the uncompensated surrender requirement against licensed hemp retailers, and no ruling on the preliminary injunction had been publicly reported as of September 3.

What the 29 days buy locally

Time on the rulemaking calendar, and nothing else.

The Office of Cannabis Regulation has a discussion draft of territorial hemp rules out for public comment, and the Cannabis Advisory Board is expected to take it up on September 24. The draft proposes a cap of 10 milligrams of total THC per serving and 100 milligrams per package. The federal figure, once the new definition lands, is 0.4 milligrams per container. Even a single-serving container would be held to 0.4 milligrams federally against 10 milligrams under the territorial draft, so the federal standard is the stricter of the two.

Moving the federal date by 29 days does not narrow that gap. What the CBD and hemp rules mean for a shopper rather than a licensee is covered in the CBD legality guide.

The local comment deadline

OCR’s comment page for the draft hemp rules states a 30-day comment period but prints no closing date. Executive Director Joanne Moorehead told the board on August 20 that comments were due September 11, per the St. Thomas Source. Some trade coverage, including Ganjactivist, has reported September 15, which is also the day the second-round license application window closes. Comments go to info.ocr@ocr.vi.gov with “Intoxicating Hemp Rules & Regulations Draft Comments” in the subject line.

Update: The board met on September 24 and amended two sections of the draft rules after the comment period, without adopting the full set. That meeting is covered in the September 24 board report.

What to watch

• September 15: the second-round license application window closes. Cultivation and manufacturing on all three islands, dispensary on St. Croix, plus territorywide micro-cultivation and research permits, covered at the second-round window deadline.
• September 24: the board takes up the draft hemp rules. The board did not reach a quorum on August 20.
• November 12: synthetics lose federal hemp status. This date did not move, and it arrives before the one that did.
• December 11: the definition change and the funding lapse land together. The next stopgap fight is now also the next hemp fight.