A California bill intended to crack down on products containing hemp-derived intoxicating substances likely will not get consideration this legislative session, leaving the window open for sales of the controversial products until next year – and leaving consumers at risk, state officials say.
Despite the legislative delay, the state’s Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) says it will continue efforts to rein in the products.
“The administration continues to work with the legislature to close loopholes and increase enforcement to address the sale and distribution of illegal hemp products,” David Hafner, the regulator’s media relations manager, said in a statement. “Mislabeled and misleading products do not belong in the marketplace – especially when they put our kids’ health and safety at risk.”
Under the proposed legislation, such products could be sold only in licensed cannabis shops. The measure seeks to shut down an out-of-control gray market, with shelf space in gas stations, bars, bodegas, coffee shops, strip malls and even mobile trailers – often in packages that appeal to youth.
California state government regulators have the power to remove a product from the market if they deem it to be unsafe. Although the the DCC has yet to give any signals it will go to that extreme, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office told MJBizDaily it was “deeply disappointed” by the stalling of the bill.
‘Kids at risk’
Izzy Gardon, a spokesperson for the governor’s office, said “Misleading and intoxicating hemp products harm consumers and put our kids’ health and safety at risk. They should be subject to reasonable health and safety regulations, just like similar cannabis products.
“The administration is actively exploring further action to close loopholes, increase enforcement, and prevent children from accessing unsafe hemp and cannabis products,” Gardon said.
The proposed law also targets smokable hemp flowers, which are often sprayed or mixed with additives that boost the THC levels.
The Senate Appropriations Committee took public comment on the measure, Assembly Bill 2223 (AB 2223), last week, but a vote has not been scheduled before the end of the current legislative session on Aug. 31. California’s next legislative session begins in January 2025.
CBD restrictions
Introduced by Democrat Assembly member Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, the California bill passed the State Assembly last month with bipartisan support.
Newsom, who has urged a crackdown, added a 44-page amendment that also calls for strict regulation of CBD. Under one provision, so called “pure CBD” products – mainly CBD-containing hemp oil – could be sold outside of the state’s regulated marijuana system. But those products may not contain any detectible amount of THC or any other intoxicating cannabinoids, a more restrictive policy than the federal limit of 0.3 percent THC. Sales of hemp products with detectable THC or other intoxicating cannabinoids would be restricted to state-licensed cannabis dispensaries.
Critics have warned that provision could put high-concentration CBD products out of the reach of patients who have found the compound effective in the treatment of various forms of seizures. More importantly, CBD sales in California, estimated at somewhere between one-half and one billion dollars, could be devastating for hemp stakeholders in the state’.
Oxy-morons
Variously referred to as “gas station pot,” “diet weed,” “marijuana light” and other slang terms, “high”-producing compounds made from industrial hemp were not understood or envisioned by the U.S. Congress when it passed the 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized industrial hemp by removing it from the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. That lack of vision left a loophole that unscrupulous operators have taken advantage of, and along the way re-associated non-drug cannabis (hemp) with psychoactive cannabis (marijuana).
The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has explicitly warned that the intoxicating hemp substances have not been evaluated or approved for safe use and are illegal. While the FDA hasn’t addressed all psychoactive substances derived from CBD extensively, the agency’s overall position on the regulation of cannabis and cannabis-derived products suggests these substances require FDA approval before being marketed as safe and effective.
In the absence of federal restrictions, states across the USA are working to reign in the illicit hemp products, with some banning them altogether and others imposing strict rules. Officials in some states have come out strongly against the intoxicating hemp products because they are being marketed in packaging that mimics leading brands of treats that are popular among children.
Bans stand in 2 states
Among recent developments in other states:
WYOMING: A federal judge last week rejected a lawsuit brought by nearly a dozen hemp product retailers challenging a ban on intoxicating hemp substances that took effect in July. The judge ruled that the retailers had not stated a claim for which relief could be granted, and gave the state defendants immunity. The lawsuit was filed at the end of June in U.S. District Court against Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon, Attorney General Bridget Hill, Director of Agriculture Doug Miyamoto and all of Wyoming’s elected prosecutors. The hemp operators had sued the state over Wyoming Senate File 0032 (SF0032). The latest legal development is a final word on the lawsuit, after a previous federal court decision also rejected the hemp operators’ challenge to the new law. SF0032 prohibits the addition of synthetic substances or other additives to hemp and hemp products, and classifies hemp-derived intoxicating compounds as Schedule I controlled substances.
MISSOURI: A ban on the sale of drinks, candy and other foods that contain hemp-derived intoxicating substances takes effect Sept. 1, 2024, under an executive order issued earlier this month by Gov. Mike Parson. The governor said the state’s goal is to safeguard the health and safety of Missourians, especially children. Parson cited health concerns and lack of research on delta-8 THC and similar psychoactive substances, most of which are synthetic forms of cannabinoids. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services said there have been reports of adults and children being hospitalized after consuming products containing the substances, and criticized branding and packaging that appeals to youth. Parson said consumption of psychoactive hemp products is not covered by the ban and confirmed that adult-use recreational marijuana remains legal in Missouri through authorized dispensaries.
