Tuesday, October 27, 2026
News For Internet Marketers
The New Jersey Senate passed S.4635 on October 22, moving the state's hemp beverage cutoff for liquor and cannabis licensees to a federal compliance date no earlier than December 11. The online sales ban is unchanged, and S.4287 would make unlicensed marijuana and vapor sales a third-degree crime.
UPS's hemp shipping page says raw hemp shipments must contain a Certificate of Analysis showing total THC, including THCA, of no more than 0.3% on a dry weight basis from December 11, 2026, the same day most of the new federal hemp definition takes effect.
WooCommerce 11.2 adds a date field type to the Additional Checkout Fields API, letting Checkout block stores collect a birth date and reject underage birthdays with relative limits such as -P21Y. The field is self-reported, so vape sellers still need PACT Act database verification.
Public Law 119-103 delays most of the federal hemp redefinition to December 11, 2026, but Missouri HB 2641 and Illinois Public Act 104-463 still take effect November 12, forcing earlier cart blocks and licensed-channel rules for intoxicating hemp SKUs.
After Square's October 15 CBD catalog deadline and November 5 hemp-primary closure pattern, Shopify and WooCommerce stores need underwriting, dual-MID, plugin, ACH, and chargeback criteria before they trust any specialty gateway marketing page.
Federal hemp deadlines do not erase stricter state milligram caps. Virginia's 2 mg per-package rule and Minnesota's 5 mg per-serving LPHE limits show why zip-to-SKU cart matrices need versioning.
Square told merchants to purge CBD and hemp catalog items by October 15, 2026, ahead of federal hemp dates that later shifted under P.L. 119-103. Processor calendars, not statutes, set settlement risk.
Square directed sellers to remove CBD, hemp, and hemp-derived items by October 15, 2026. Processor deadlines can arrive before federal hemp dates shift.
