If you carry CBD in your spa, a new federal rule lands on Nov. 12, and it's worth ten minutes of your attention before then.
A lot of what's been written makes it sound like CBD could disappear, and that isn't what's happening. But things are changing, and for most spa menus it comes down to a single question you can answer yourself.
What actually changed
On Nov. 12, 2025, a government funding bill became law with a provision in it called Section 781. It rewrote the federal definition of hemp and gave the industry exactly one year to adjust. That year is almost up.
The 2018 Farm Bill, the law that put CBD products on your shelf in the first place, defined hemp by a single measurement: no more than 0.3% delta-9 THC by dry weight. Delta-9 is the compound most people mean when they say THC. What that definition didn't count was everything else in the plant that behaves like THC or converts into it.
Section 781 closes that gap. Starting Nov. 12, 2026, hemp is measured by total THC, which takes in delta-9, THCA, and any other cannabinoid the government designates as having similar effects. There's a second piece that matters more for your shelf: a finished product intended for human use by ingestion, inhalation or topical application can contain no more than 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container.
That includes topicals. This isn't only about gummies and drinks.
What the rule is aimed at, and what the reassurance actually means
Sen. Mitch McConnell, who wrote Section 781, described the measure as excluding intoxicating THC products from the definition of hemp. That's the target: delta-8, THC seltzers, the gas station products that have been sold as hemp for years.
McConnell's office also said the provision protects CBD. It’s worth knowing exactly what it means, because it’s narrower than it sounds. The law puts no limit on how much CBD a product can contain. What it does limit is the THC in the finished container, and a CBD product is still a finished container.
So nobody is capping your CBD. What's capped is the total THC in the jar it comes in, at 0.4 milligrams. That's the number that you should check.
The one question that determines your risk
Does what you carry contain THC?
Broad-spectrum and THC-free products are formulated without it. They were built that way for a reason that has nothing to do with this law: a lot of spa clients can't risk a positive drug test. First responders, military, federal employees, anyone whose job tests. That's been a retail conversation for years. In November it becomes a compliance conversation too, and the products that were easy to recommend for the first reason are the simplest to defend for the second.
Full-spectrum is where I'd look first. Full-spectrum means the product keeps the plant's other compounds, including trace THC, which still counts toward the limit. A product can be entirely legal under the old rule and still carry more than 0.4 milligrams in a jar, because nobody was measuring it that way.
How to check your own shelf
Here's what I'd do.
- Pull the certificate of analysis for every CBD product you carry. Any brand worth carrying publishes one, usually on the product page or a dedicated lab-results page. If you can't find a current COA for something on your shelf, you've learned something already.
- Look for total THC, not just delta-9. Older COAs often report delta-9 alone, because that's what the old rule asked for. If total THC isn't on the document, ask for it.
- Do the container math. The limit is per container. It isn't per serving and it isn't per ounce. A larger jar of the same formula carries more total THC than a smaller one, so the sizes you stock matter.
- Ask your supplier where they stand, in writing. Any brand that's been paying attention has an answer ready.
What's still unsettled
Two things are worth knowing.
The first is that the guidance meant to clarify all of this hasn't arrived. The law gave the FDA 90 days to publish lists of which cannabinoids count and to add specificity on what counts as a container. That deadline was Feb. 10. It still hasn't been published. There are real questions the agency hasn't answered, and anyone telling you they know exactly how this gets enforced is guessing.
The second is that the date might move. On Aug. 8 the Senate passed a funding bill that would push most of Section 781 from Nov. 12 to Dec. 11, while leaving some restrictions on synthetic cannabinoids in place for November regardless. That bill still needs the House, which is in recess, and then the president's signature. A separate bill the House already passed doesn't include a delay.
There is also a longer-term bill in play. A bipartisan bill filed in late July would broadly rewrite the framework, raising the hemp threshold and setting limits by product type.
None of the bills are law, at least not yet, so you may or may not get an extra month on the part that affects your shelf. Either way, the practical answer is the same: plan for Nov. 12. The missing guidance and possible delay aren't reasons to wait.
Where Vital Body stands
Our topicals are broad-spectrum and THC-free, at 0.0%.
That was a decision we made back in 2018. We wanted to make something our moms would use. That’s been the test for keeping the product accessible to a wide pool: anyone who worried about getting high, anyone whose job tests them, anyone who just didn’t want to smell like weed.
If this change has you rethinking what you carry, THC-free keeps the compliance question simple.
What to do between now and November
None of this calls for panic. It calls for ten minutes with your COAs and one email to each of your suppliers. The spas that do that now will spend November running their business. The ones that wait could spend it on the phone.
If you want a second set of eyes on a COA, or you want to know where a specific product you carry lands, send it to me. I'll look at it with you, and it doesn't have to be one of ours.
