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The production lines at Indeed Brewing moved quickly, the cans filling not with beer, but with THC-infused seltzer. The product, which features the compound that gets cannabis users high, has been a lifeline at Indeed and other craft breweries as alcohol sales have fallen in recent years. But that boom looks set to come to a crashing halt. Buried in the bill that ended the federal government shutdown this month was a provision to ban those drinks, along with other impairing beverages and snacks made from hemp, which have proliferated across the country in recent years. Now the $24 billion hemp industry is scrambling to save itself before the provision takes effect in November 2026. “It’s a big deal,” said Ryan Bandy, Indeed’s chief business officer. “It would be a mess for our breweries, for our industry, and obviously for a lot of people who like these things.” Here’s what to know about the looming ban on impairing products derived from hemp. Congress opened the door in 2018 Marijuana and hemp are the same species. Marijuana is cultivated for high levels of THC in its flowers. Low-THC hemp is grown for its sturdy fibers, food, or wellness products. “Rope, not dope” was long the motto of farmers who supported legalizing hemp. After states began legalizing marijuana for adult use over a decade ago, hemp advocates saw an opening at the federal level. As part of the 2018 farm bill, Congress legalized the cultivation of industrial hemp to give farmers, including in Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell’s home state of Kentucky, a new cash crop. But the way that law defined hemp — as having less than 0.3% of a specific type of THC, called delta-9 — opened a huge loophole. Beverages or bags of snacks could meet that threshold and still contain more than enough THC to get people high. Businesses could further exploit the law by extracting a non-impairing compound, called CBD, and chemically changing it into other types of impairing THC, such as delta-8 or delta-10. The result? Vape oil, gummy candies, chips, cookies, sodas, and other unregulated, untested products laden with hemp-derived THC spread around the country. In many places, they have been available at gas stations or convenience stores, even to teens. In legal marijuana states, they undercut heavily taxed and regulated products. In others, they evaded the prohibition on recreational use of weed. Some states, including Indiana, have reported spikes in calls to poison-control centers for pediatric exposure to THC. A patchwork of state regulations Dozens of states have since taken steps to regulate or ban impairing hemp products. In October, Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill banning the sale of intoxicating hemp products outside the state’s legal marijuana system. Texas, which has a massive hemp market, is moving to regulate sales of impairing hemp, such as by restricting them to those over 21. In Nebraska, lawmakers have instead considered a bill to criminalize the sale and possession of products containing hemp-based THC. Washington state adopted a program to regulate hemp growing. But the number of licensed growers has cratered since the state banned intoxicating hemp products outside of the regulated cannabis market in 2023. Five years ago, there were 220, said Trecia Ehrlich, cannabis program manager with the state agriculture department. This year, there were 42, and with a federal ban looming, she expects that number to drop by about half next year. Minnesota made infused beverages and foods legal in 2022 for people 21 and older. The products, which must be derived from legally certified hemp, have become so popular that Target is now offering THC drinks at some of its stores in the state. They’ve also been a boon to liquor stores and to small Minneapolis brewers like Indeed, where THC drinks make up close to one-quarter of the business, Bandy said. At Bauhaus Brew Labs, a few blocks away, THC…

A community in New Jersey stepped up to rally around a nonprofit after a real-life Grinch got away with hundreds of toys for children in need. Wheels of Change in West Deptford, New Jersey, was scrambling to replace hundreds of toys before Christmas after a thief allegedly cut the locks off their trailer and stole bags of gifts. The organization had put the toys away in the trailer to set them aside for more than 600 children. “Honestly, my stomach dropped. I wanted to cry,” Wheels of Change founder Brenda Gonzalez had told NBC Philadelphia. “As we were having a food distribution outside for Thanksgiving we noticed that the locks were cut.” There are no surveillance cameras outside of the nonprofit’s building, so organizers said that they didn’t know when the theft happened or who possibly committed the theft. Wheels of Change is a resource center that helps thousands of families every year and now they can help even more people thanks to the community who dropped off gift after gift on Friday morning. Gonzalez said she wanted to thank the Grinch who allegedly stole their Christmas toys. “Thank you because not only you took from us but you also have blessed us in the same time because now it is visible to everyone the work that we do and we are receiving tenfold,” Gonzalez said. Wheels of Change is continuing to accept donations of new toys geared toward children ages 7 and up ahead of the holidays.

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The Simpsons are leaving Fortnite as the Zero Hour live-event marks the end of Chapter 6 and the beginning of Chapter 7. Here's everything you need to know.

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