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.
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