A proposed bill would preserve a narrow market for hemp drinks while leaving the rest of the industry behind—and requiring the drinks that survive to move through wholesalers.

Federal restrictions enacted in 2025 include a 0.4-milligram-per-container limit on combined total THC and certain other cannabinoids with similar effects. Products exceeding that ceiling would lose their federal hemp classification.

Congress delayed most of those changes until December 11, 2026, while retaining the original timeline for certain cannabinoids that cannot occur naturally in the plant. The restrictions appear in Section 781 of the 2025 law.

H.R. 10079 would exempt qualifying drinks from the per-container limit. Gummies and other nonbeverage products receive no comparable exemption. Tinctures, vapes, flower, and edibles are expressly excluded from its finished-beverage definition.

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The quick read

  • Alcohol wholesalers back the bill. Qualifying beverages would have to move through a mandatory 3-tier wholesale distribution system. An outdated system that puts control in the hands of distributors and raises the price of doing business.
  • Other products remain exposed. Gummies and other nonbeverage products receive no comparable exemption from incoming federal restrictions. Everything outside of beverages would be outlawed.
  • Even beverage businesses could suffer. Lost suppliers, new taxes, and less control over distribution would make survival harder.

Van Duyne’s bill has alcohol-wholesaler backing

Representative Beth Van Duyne (TX), alongside Representative Greg Landsman (OH), introduced the Beverage Regulatory Parity Act, H.R. 10079, on August 10, 2026.

Her announcement lists supporters including Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America, the Texas Package Stores Association, Spec’s, and Total Wine & More. The Hemp Beverage Alliance also supports it.

The alcohol wholesale industry has a direct commercial stake in this proposal. The bill would require manufacturers to sell through wholesalers and prohibit manufacturers from selling directly to retailers.

This bill very clearly helps one industry: the alcohol industry. The sponsors promise consumer protection and regulatory certainty, while proposing that 90% of the industry still gets shut down.

Saving drinks leaves leaves the most important products behind

The broader restrictions are already law set to take effect on December 11. This proposal would selectively relieve them.

A beverage exception would only benefit the alcohol industry and a few hemp beverage companies. This does not benefit adults who seek relief from every other product format. There is also zero evidence that says drinks are more safe, more consistently dosed, and preferred over other formats.

A wholesaler could determine who reaches the shelf

Under the proposed system, a manufacturer would need a wholesale partner to reach retailers. The bill also prohibits an ownership interest in more than one distribution tier.

For a small producer, that creates an obvious concern: a compliant product with willing customers could still struggle to secure distribution.

Wholesalers provide valuable services. Requiring every manufacturer to use one would remove a business choice and make access depend on another company’s purchasing decisions.

The Treasury Department’s review of alcohol markets identified distribution consolidation, complaints about exclusionary practices, and rules that can disproportionately burden smaller producers. Those findings should prompt investigation and an over haul of the system. Instead this bill would give alcohol distributors more power and profit.

Beverage suppliers need the rest of the industry

Hemp drinks depend on suppliers that often serve multiple product categories.

Consider a processor supplying beverage companies, gummy manufacturers, and tincture brands. If its nonbeverage customers disappear, it loses revenue that supports equipment, staffing, testing, and production.

The potential chain reaction:

  • Processors lose customers and may reduce capacity or close.
  • Beverage makers face fewer suppliers, higher costs, or interruptions.
  • Retailers lose product variety and revenue that helps sustain their businesses.

Whitney Economics’ 2025 beverage report warned that beverage carve-outs combined with restrictions on other products could harm the broader industry and its supply chain.

Qualifying drinks would still face new costs

The proposal includes:

  • A 5-milligram intoxicating-THC limit per serving.
  • Federal permitting, testing, and age restrictions.
  • An excise tax of 8 cents per milligram of intoxicating THC.
  • State authority to impose stricter rules or prohibit the drinks.
  • Manufacturers and brands are required to use a 3-tier distribution system

A 5-milligram drink would carry 40 cents in federal excise tax. Four such drinks would carry $1.60, before other applicable taxes.

The impact would vary by business. Smaller producers would have to absorb the combined pressure of taxes, compliance expenses, and wholesale distribution terms.

Texas has more at stake than one product category

Whitney Economics’ 2025 Texas analysis estimated the broader hemp cannabinoid industry supported:

  • $5.5 billion in annual business revenue.
  • More than 53,000 jobs.
  • $2.1 billion in wages.
  • $267 million in state tax revenue

These figures describe the industry’s scale; they are not a forecast of losses from this bill.

They show why preserving a limited beverage market is an inadequate measure of whether Congress has protected the hemp economy.

THBC’s position: protect consumers & businesses across the industry

We support age restrictions, reliable testing, accurate labels, responsible packaging, and enforcement against unlawful sales.

Congress should establish workable rules across product categories, preserve adult choice, and give responsible businesses a fair opportunity to compete.

Tell your members of Congress: support a comprehensive hemp framework that protects consumers, independent businesses, and the suppliers they depend on.

A beverage-only carve-out leaves too much of that industry behind.