California Governor Signs Bill To Integrate Hemp And Marijuana Markets After Banning Intoxicating Cannabinoids Outside Of Dispensaries

The governor of California has signed a bill to integrate intoxicating hemp
products into the state’s existing marijuana market—an attempt to
consolidate the cannabis industry and prevent youth access to unregulated
hemp.

After the legislation from Assembly Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry
(D) passed the Senate last month, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed it into law
on Thursday.

“We are continuing to place the safety of every Californian first,” Newsom
said. “For too long, nefarious hemp manufacturers have been exploiting
loopholes to make their intoxicating products easily available to our most
vulnerable communities—that stops today.”

This follows the governor’s emergency order last year that outright
prohibited hemp products with any trace amounts of THC from being sold,
which industry stakeholders warned would devastate the marketplace.

Under the newly signed bill, intoxicating hemp products that meet certain
regulatory requirements would be able to be sold at licensed cannabis
retailers with age restrictions and testing rules. But it’s unclear how
that might ameliorate the hemp industry’s concerns, when adults and
patients go to a store with the option to buy a broader array of marijuana
products.

“Bad actors have abused state and federal law to sell intoxicating hemp
products in our State. As the author of legislation that allowed the legal
sale of non-intoxicating hemp CBD products, this is absolutely
unacceptable,” Aguiar-Curry said. “AB 8 is a result of years of
collaboration with this Administration, and I appreciate the Governor’s
signature.”

“Our first job is to protect our kids and our communities,” she said. “With
this bill, we’ll have responsible regulation, increase enforcement, and
support struggling legal cannabis businesses against criminal competition.”

Nicole Elliott, director of the Department of Cannabis Control (DCC), said
the legislation represents “a critical step forward for California’s
cannabis industry and for consumer safety.”

“By closing loopholes around intoxicating hemp products and bringing them
under the same strict rules as cannabis, this legislation protects
consumers, ensures fair competition for licensed businesses, and
strengthens the integrity of our regulated marketplace,” she said. “AB 8
makes it clear that all intoxicating products must be held to the same
important standards Californians expect.”

The key provisions of the law take effect in January 2028, mandating that
consumable hemp products with cannabinoids other that CBD must comply with
the state’s current medical and recreational marijuana laws.

A Senate analysis of the bill released last month said the measure would
ban the sale of “synthetic cannabis products and inhalable cannabis
products containing cannabinoids derived from hemp,” place restrictions on
incorporating raw hemp extracts into foods and beverages and expand “the
authority for state and local enforcement agencies to inspect, seize, and
destroy unlawful cannabis products.”

This all follows Newsom announcing emergency regulations last year to
outlaw hemp products with any “detectable amount of total THC.” Under that
move, hemp products that don’t have THC are also limited to five servings
per package, and sales are restricted to adults 21 and older.

The proposal came less than a month after the state legislature effectively
killed a governor-backed bill that would have imposed somewhat similar
restrictions on intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoids.

All told, the newly enacted legislation represents a major paradigm shift
in California hemp policy at a time when multiple states, as well as
Congress, are considered similar restrictive changes to cannabis laws since
hemp was federally legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill.


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In Texas, for example, an effort to ban hemp products with THC failed in
the legislature for a second time over the summer during a special
session—after the Republican governor vetoed an initial version of the
proposal. However, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) did subsequently sign an emergency
order to impose age and labeling restrictions on consumable hemp.

The head of the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) has since pushed back
against a GOP senator’s “incorrect assertions” about the state’s regulatory
compliance with federal hemp laws. But he’s also signaling that changes may
be coming to measure “total THC” to determine the legality of hemp products
in a way that some stakeholders worry could negatively impact the industry.

At the congressional level, bipartisan House lawmakers recently criticized
attempts to ban hemp THC products, arguing that it would “deal a fatal
blow” to the industry and, as currently included in a spending bill,
violates congressional rules. To that end, the members say there are plans
in the works to introduce an alternative measure to regulate the market.

Dozens of hemp farmers from Kentucky also recently urged their state’s
senior U.S. senator, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), to back off from his push
to recriminalize some products that are derived from their crops.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), for his part, recently cautioned that the cannabis
policy movement has “swung hard on the prohibitionist side” amid the
ongoing debate over intoxicating hemp products. And he worries that, if
things go awry, the hemp market could be decimated “within the next two
weeks.”

Asked about recent conversations with McConnell and Rep. Andy Harris
(R-MD), Paul said “we’ve been working diligently” with the staff “trying to
reach a compromise.”

Meanwhile, back in California, the governor has signed legislation to delay
a marijuana tax hike for three years.

Newsom, in keeping with his recent parody of President Donald Trump’s
social media style, separately joked on Wednesday that he’s assuming the
role of “leader of the free world” in light of the federal government
shutdown—and part of his platform will be to legalize marijuana.

*Image element courtesy of Gage Skidmore.*

The post California Governor Signs Bill To Integrate Hemp And Marijuana
Markets After Banning Intoxicating Cannabinoids Outside Of Dispensaries
appeared first on Marijuana Moment.