Missouri hemp retailers slashed prices, cleared shelves and, in some cases, gave away products this week as a new state law restricting the sale of hemp-derived THC took effect. The law, House Bill 2641, took effect on Thursday, November 12. From that date, many intoxicating hemp products can be sold only through Missouri’s licensed marijuana dispensaries.
Clearance bins appeared on gas station countertops. Smoke shops emptied display cases. In one small Missouri town, military veterans were offered free products on Veterans Day. Some shops closed for good.
Missouri hemp law moves THC sales to dispensaries
Governor Mike Kehoe signed House Bill 2641 into law on April 23, 2026. The law reclassifies intoxicating hemp products as marijuana and sets a limit of 0.3 percent total THC, including THCA, for products to count as hemp. Finished hemp products face a limit of 0.4 milligrams of THC per container.
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services previously estimated that about 40,000 food establishments and smoke shops, along with 1,800 food manufacturers, could be affected by the restrictions. Certain hemp beverages are temporarily exempt and can stay on shelves until December 11, when broader federal restrictions are scheduled to take effect.
Missouri hemp shops clear shelves before deadline
Brian Riegel runs a Missouri hemp business in Union, growing hemp at his farm and making his products at his warehouse. He has farmed hemp since 2018. On Wednesday, Riegel closed his doors and liquidated his products. Riegel is also treasurer of the Missouri Hemp Trade Association, which represents businesses that sell and produce hemp products.
JellyLeaf Cannabis said both its locations, in Blue Springs and Warrensburg, would close on Wednesday, November 11. The company said Missouri passed a law that prevents it from continuing to operate the business it built. Its last day of business at both locations was November 11.
A sign at Macadoodles liquor store in Union encouraged customers to advocate for a new legal framework for THC drinks. Among Riegel’s products is an intoxicating hemp seltzer, which can still be sold in Missouri until December 11 unless Congress delays the federal ban again.
Missouri hemp sellers face lawsuits and a court loss
Attorney General Catherine Hanaway sued four Missouri hemp retailers on November 4, saying they sold marijuana while posing as hemp shops. The four are Puffers Choice in Aurora, CBD Kratom Cannabis Dispensary in Des Peres, Herb Depot in Independence and Token THC Dispensary in Rock Port. Hanaway said her office would continue using every tool available and that more lawsuits would follow.
The same day, the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri dismissed a Missouri hemp industry lawsuit challenging House Bill 2641. The Missouri Hemp Trade Association and other businesses had brought the challenge. The judge found the law had not yet taken effect and its application to the plaintiffs remained uncertain.
The attorney general’s office had sent cease-and-desist letters to 33 retailers earlier in the year, after testing information gathered by the Missouri Cannabis Trade Association raised questions about products sold as hemp.
Hanaway said enforcement would focus on businesses selling prohibited products, rather than consumers who bought them. Her office has primary jurisdiction over enforcement of the act, according to a memo the Missouri Department of Public Safety sent to industry members. Amy Moore, director of the Division of Cannabis Regulation, said the division is ready to take on its role.
Missouri has had two parallel markets for cannabis products: the licensed marijuana system created by Article XIV of the state constitution and overseen by the health department, and a largely unregulated retail market in hemp products, many of them intoxicating, sold in storefronts that often resemble licensed dispensaries. The Missouri hemp market it targets is the second of those two, and House Bill 2641 is designed to close it.
The law also gives the health department’s cannabis rules a wider reach. From November 12, intoxicating hemp products fall under the department’s existing cannabis regulations, a health department spokesperson told the Missouri Independent.