By admin 
Businesses making and selling high-inducing edibles, like THC seltzers, in South Carolina notched a win when a strict regulation effort for their industry died this summer.
Read more ‘Don’t leave us in limbo,’ THC edible sellers in SC await looming federal ban
Now, they face another threat to their industry: a looming federal restriction on hemp-derived THC consumables that business owners say is an effective ban. If the restriction goes into effect Dec. 11 as planned, hemp products could include up to .4 milligrams of THC per serving. The change would make hemp-derived THC products a federally illegal substance.
David Spang, founder of Coastal Green Wellness, a hemp retailer, and THC drink brand Nine Dot Beverages, said the ban is “by far the biggest existential threat we’ve ever faced as an industry and for my own business.”
“We may still have some viable products with some wholesale, but we’re talking about 90% of our catalog being gone,” Spang said. “And I’ve had to prepare my team for the fact that we may go out of business come December.”
The effective ban could decimate local hemp products and leave consumers with fewer options for their buzzy drinks and edibles, even if it eventually reversed, those in the South Carolina industry said.
Some in South Carolina, including law enforcement officials, the state GOP and some Republican lawmakers, favor banning the hemp products due to public safety concerns. Proponents of looser regulations have said a ban would put South Carolina companies selling or producing hemp products out of business and advocated for the potential medicinal uses of THC, the intoxicating compound in marijuana. Marijuana is still illegal in South Carolina.
Congress creates an industry for high-inducing hemp with no rules
The federal government legalized hemp, which contains smaller amounts of THC than marijuana, in the 2018 Farm Bill. In the last several years, businesses around the country, including South Carolina, have produced edibles like drinks and gummies with enough hemp-derived THC to give consumers a high.
The hemp-derived cannabinoid industry’s high-end potential revenue is estimated at $30.2-38.7 billion, according to a September report from Whitney Economics, a cannabis industry research group. That includes beverages and edibles but also flower and other THC products.
Legalizing hemp in 2018 created a growing industry of intoxicating THC products without any federal rules and many states, including South Carolina, also haven’t placed any guardrails on the products.
For months, South Carolina lawmakers debated regulating where and what hemp products could be sold. The bill collapsed in June after state House lawmakers rejected regulations, which many selling and producing hemp products in South Carolina saw as a win.
Proponents of strictly regulating or banning hemp-derived THC products, including law enforcement officials, argued the products could harm children or lead to more intoxicated drivers.
In 2025, Congress placed a deadline on the industry it created by restricting any products with more than .4 milligrams of THC on Nov. 12, 2026. For comparison, a proposed state rule would have capped THC drinks at 10 milligrams per serving.
The deadline was later pushed back one month and some in the industry suspect it could be delayed again. President Donald Trump has lobbied to regulate rather than ban the products, according to media reports.
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SC businesses adapt to looming ban
The possibility of a federal ban, in addition to regulations debated by the General Assembly, has already taken a toll on those selling or producing hemp edibles. Spang said the ban has effected everything in his business, including determining how much product to order, how many employees to train and growing the number of retail locations.
“We have absolutely been, particularly the last six months, incredibly conservative with where we would have been, without this federal impending ban,” Spang said.
Emily Heintz started her business, Sèchey, in 2021 and offered primarily alcohol-free drinks. When Sèchey opened, she wasn’t selling any THC drinks. But as popularity of the products grew, Heintz started offering them at Sèchey and the drinks now make up around 60% of her sales, she said in an interview.
Heintz said she carries difficult-to-find drinks and companies producing hemp edibles responsibly.
“It doesn’t look like a smoke shop,” Heintz said. “It looks like products that you would feel proud to put in your fridge.”
Heintz sold her home over the summer, and her Charleston store will close by the end of the month. She’ll continue selling “alternative adult beverages” and a private-label alcohol-free wine online.
She described proposed restrictions on hemp, including the federal ban and South Carolina’s own debated strict regulation on the products, as a “final blow” in her decision to close her storefront on King Street in Charleston. Licensing requirements, also made it difficult to operate in the state, she said.
“I want to comply with the federal and state regulations, but it was a lot to where I just couldn’t risk losing it in maintaining our sales,” Heintz said. “So I was like, what am I going to do without hemp?”
“I think the biggest thing is either regulate it or don’t,” Heintz later said. “But don’t leave us in limbo because then we can’t make decisions.”
Heintz, like other business owners selling hemp products, acknowledge there are “bad actors” in the industry. Some products are deceptively marketed to look like other candies or snacks or aren’t tested.
Business owners want rules for the hemp industry, said Zach Serrins, executive director of South Carolina Health Alternatives Association. He said the federal government should push back the restriction deadline and work out a regulation. He also wants state-level rules for the industry, including testing and packaging requirements and age restrictions.
“We want some sort of retail system that doesn’t pick winners and losers,” Serrins said. “Allows folks that help built this industry that might not have the huge dollars behind them that bigger entities do. We want to see a path for them to continue to survive and thrive in the state.”
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