Tag: hemp

Gavin Newsom Wants California To Have More Restrictive Drug Laws Than Florida

Last week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed strict new rules on intoxicating substances derived from hemp. The crackdown would give the Golden State more punitive drug laws than even Florida.

Newsom, who was floated as a potential replacement for Joe Biden on the Democratic presidential ticket, announced new “emergency regulations” on Friday. Under the new rules, any “industrial hemp final form food product intended for human consumption” must contain “no detectable amount of total THC,” and “each package shall have no more than five servings.” The new regulations would also prohibit anyone under the age of 21 from purchasing any hemp-derived food products.

Newsom sold the new regulations as necessary to protect children from accessing intoxicating products. “The industry bears full responsibility for not policing itself for the proliferation of these intoxicating products that are hurting our children,” Newsom said at a press conference announcing the new regulations.

THC is the psychoactive compound that occurs naturally in cannabis. Typically, this refers to delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, which creates the “high” from smoking marijuana, though there are other variations as well: Delta-8-THC occurs in hemp—derived from the same plant as marijuana—and presents a similar, though milder, response compared to delta-9.

In the 2018 farm bill, Congress legalized industrial hemp by defining it as a cannabis byproduct with “not more than 0.3 percent” delta-9-THC concentration. As a result, an entire industry emerged in which companies manufactured intoxicating products containing delta-8, which could be synthesized from hemp.

But Newsom’s “emergency” rules define THC to include both delta-8 and delta-9, as well as numerous other cannabis byproducts. While federal law allows a hemp-derived substance to be up to 0.3 percent delta-9, Newsom would prefer the limit be zero percent, and he would make manufacturers “provide documentation that includes a certificate of analysis from an independent testing laboratory to confirm the amount of total THC…does not exceed the total THC per serving size limits.”

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Beer Industry Trade Group Applauds California Governor’s Crackdown On Hemp Products With THC

A major alcohol trade association is applauding California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) newly proposed emergency regulations to outlaw intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoids and require all CBD products be completely free of THC.

The head of the Beer Association, which represents American brewers, importers and industry suppliers, touted its “longstanding commitment to responsible drinking” in comments issued Monday morning and said Newsom’s proposal will close “an unintended loophole” created with the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized hemp federally.

“The Beer Institute thanks Governor Newsom for his leadership in closing an unintended loophole that has enabled the proliferation of unregulated intoxicating hemp products,” Brian Crawford, the group’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “Intoxicating hemp products are being sold as food and beverages, despite not being deemed safe for the U.S. food supply by federal regulators, and in some cases without age restrictions.”

“The beer industry is proud of our longstanding commitment to responsible drinking,” added Crawford, “and to operating in full compliance with a multitude of state and federal regulations.”

The Beer Institute said in an email that its position “aligns with a bipartisan coalition of 21 state attorneys general” who wrote a letter in March urging Congress to amend federal law so that intoxicating cannabinoids are not included in the federal definition of hemp.

More broadly, the Beer Institute has kept its distance from marijuana. It says on a policy page that while members “strongly believe voters should determine whether their state should legalize the sale of marijuana,” the group itself remains neutral on legalization. It further argues that it’s “misleading to compare marijuana to beer.”

“Beer is distinctly different, both as a product and as an industry,” the trade association contends. “Americans welcome beer at nearly every occasion because beer’s moderate alcohol content means it can be enjoyed sensibly. Brewers and beer importers are committed to responsible consumption, advertising, community service and working with law enforcement to promote public safety.”

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Nebraska Attorney General Announces Crackdown On Illegal THC Product Sales

Saying he was stepping up Nebraska’s fight against “mislabeled” and “dangerous” delta-8 products, Attorney General Mike Hilgers (R) on Wednesday announced the start of citywide crackdowns on retailers who sell the items.

He said that while his escalated effort started in Norfolk, other cities should expect similar blanket investigations.

“We are ramping up our efforts to clean up Nebraska,” Hilgers said. “For the first time, we have sued every store in a community. The stores are misleading Nebraskans.”

Four new lawsuits

Flanked at a media event by U.S. Rep. Mike Flood (R-NE) of Norfolk, Hilgers told reporters of four new lawsuits covering five Norfolk stores. Filed Wednesday in Madison County District Court, they allege violations of the Consumer Protection Act, Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act and Nebraska’s Pure Food Act.

The latest suits joined legal actions filed since last year against a dozen other vape shops and businesses across the state. Some cases have been settled, with retailers agreeing not to sell prohibited hemp products that contain or have been modified with synthetic THC.

THC is the compound in the cannabis plant most commonly associated with getting a person high. Some of the THC-containing products in question were packaged and made to look like candy and snacks.

A spokesperson for two of the Norfolk stores said, however, they were unaware there was any problem with the products they buy from a wholesaler distributor.

Tiffany Colsden, general manager of NP Mart stores in Norfolk, said her team learned of the investigation Wednesday, when a reporter came knocking.

By noon, she said, the two stores had pulled the items in question off the shelves.

“All they had to do was tell us,” Colsden said. “If Nebraska doesn’t want us to sell it, we won’t. It’s that simple.”

She described NP Mart, which has two locations in Norfolk, as a convenience store that sells gas.

Lawsuits also were filed against Smokin’ Deals, Smokes R. Less and Vapor Hutt.

A person at Smokes R. Less hung up the phone when a reporter called.

Vapor Hutt officials could not be reached.

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California Governor Unveils Emergency Rules To Ban Hemp Products With Any ‘Detectable Amount’ Of THC

Six years after Congress passed the 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized hemp at the federal level, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is attempting to rein in the proliferation of products that contain intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoids. While many support the aims of the proposal, some stakeholders contend it could ultimately limit access to federally legal CBD products.

Newsom announced new emergency regulations on Friday that would outlaw hemp products with any “detectable amount of total THC.” Hemp products that don’t have THC would be further limited to five servings per package, and sales would be restricted to adults 21 and older.

The proposal comes 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.

Newsom said in a press conference that he expects the new rules to take effect after a “very short” administrative process.

Standing next to a table piled with largely unregulated products containing hemp-derived cannabinoids, including beverages and gummies, Newsom expressed disgust that they’re now widely sold at grocery stores, gas stations and convenience stores. Hemp-derived THC-infused sparkling water, he lamented, can be found—including by minors—alongside more benign products like La Croix.

“It’s a disgrace and it’s a shame,” the governor said, “and the industry bears full responsibility for not policing itself, for the proliferation of these intoxicating products that are hurting our children.”

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THC-O Qualifies As Legal Hemp Under Federal Law, Appeals Court Says, Rejecting DEA’s Restrictive Stance

A U.S. appeals court has ruled that the hemp-derived cannabinoid THC-O-acetate is federally legal under the 2018 Farm Bill, rejecting the position of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) that the chemical is a Schedule I controlled substance.

The opinion, published on Wednesday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, comes in an employment case that rests in part on the federal legality of the cannabinoid. In it, the majority of a three-judge panel ruled that DEA’s interpretation of what qualifies as illegal marijuana is overbroad and does not apply to THC-O, which can be synthesized from other cannabinoids found in legal hemp.

In rejecting DEA’s 2023 interpretation of the law, the Fourth Circuit panel sided with an earlier opinion out of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that ruled the Farm Bill’s legalization of hemp removed restrictions on a wide range of cannabinoids, for example delta-8 THC.

“Because the statute is subject to this other reasonable (and, we think, better,) interpretation,” says the new Fourth Circuit opinion, “we reject [the employer’s] contention that the DEA’s interim final rule or letter mandates a finding that THC-O is illegal.”

“Between the DEA’s February 2023 letter and [the Ninth Circuit opinion], we think the Ninth Circuit’s interpretation of the 2018 Farm Act is the better of the two,” judges wrote. “And we’re free to make that determination ourselves, despite a contrary interpretation from the DEA, because we agree with the Ninth Circuit that [the federal definition of hemp] is unambiguous.”

Specifically, the opinion says, “The Ninth Circuit held that it didn’t need to consider the DEA’s position on synthetically derived substances because the definition of ‘hemp’ under the 2018 Farm Act was unambiguous in its application to all products derived from the cannabis plant, ‘so long as they do not cross the 0.3 percent delta-9 THC threshold.’”

To further justify its reasoning, the court cited a Supreme Court decision from this year that overturned the so-called Chevron doctrine of providing deference to federal agencies’ interpretations of ambiguous statutes, writing that it means judges need not defer to DEA’s own interpretation of the law.

The opinion says of the federal hemp definition: “Even if it were ambiguous, we needn’t defer to the agency’s interpretation, see Loper Bright Enters. v. Raimondo.”

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Missouri health department to begin enforcing ban on psychoactive cannabis compounds

On Sunday, the state of Missouri will begin enforcing Gov. Mike Parson’s executive order to crack down on psychoactive cannabis products.

The governor has said the products being targeted are often packaged to look like candy and can appeal to children, and they’re sold at convenience stores and other businesses with liquor licenses. The only exceptions will be for products that come from a source approved by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS).

The executive order issued August 1st also required the Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control to file an emergency rule to forbid liquor license holders from selling psychoactive cannabis, but the rule has been blocked by Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft.

In a statement, the Department of Health and Senior Services said the rejection of the emergency rule filing “has no impact” on their enforcing the executive order.

“Executive Order 24-10 does not apply to products under the control or purview of the Division of Cannabis Regulation pursuant to Article XIV of the Missouri Constitution and sold by establishments licensed pursuant to Article XIV of the Missouri Constitution,” the statement said.

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Intoxicating Hemp Products Are Undercutting South Dakota Medical Marijuana Sales, Businesses Tell Lawmakers

South Dakota’s legislative oversight committee on medical marijuana was thrust into the world of synthetic THC on Monday as members heard complaints about how loosely regulated, hemp-derived products are affecting the state’s medical marijuana industry.

The Medical Marijuana Oversight Committee heard from business owners and the State Public Health Laboratory director during a meeting in Pierre. They’re concerned about the growth in synthetically altered, hemp-derived products, sold under terms including delta-8 THC and delta-10 THC, which are compounds that can produce a high similar to marijuana. The compound that gives marijuana its high is delta-9 THC.

As with marijuana, the synthetic products take the form of smokable flower, pre-rolled joints, vape oil and edibles. Unlike marijuana, the companies that produce them aren’t subject to the testing, security and labeling requirements attached to the state’s legal medical cannabis market.

Alternatives not only pose a health risk, the witnesses told the oversight committee, but can cut into demand for medical marijuana since the products can be purchased without a medical marijuana patient card and can be loaded with large enough quantities of THC variants to act as a stand-in for marijuana.

Congress authorized hemp growing with the 2018 Farm Bill, and South Dakota has become the largest producer of hemp in the country after legalizing it four years ago. In that time period, the availability and variety of hemp-derived marijuana alternatives has exploded.

The Legislature passed House Bill 1125 last winter to address the “diet weed” market. The law, which went into effect in July but is being challenged in court, bans the creation or sale of some products created through chemical modification of hemp. Possession of the products is still legal.

The new law bans four THC variants, State Public Health Laboratory Director Tim Southern told the committee, but several others remain available. THC-A products, for example, remain widely available in smoke shops that had previously sold other products that are now illegal to sell.

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Nebraska Bill To Levy 30% Tax On Consumable Hemp Products Advances Out Of Committee

A legislative committee in Nebraska has advanced a sweeping tax bill that would, among other changes, impose a 30 percent sales tax on “consumable hemp” and CBD products. The proposal, broadly aimed at providing property tax relief, will now be considered by the full legislature.

On Monday, lawmakers on the Revenue Committee passed the bill, LB 34, on a 6–1 vote. The tax package combines various proposals that have been introduced during the state’s special legislative session, called by Gov. Jim Pillen (R) last month to deal with the property tax issue.

As approved by the committee, the bill would set a 30 percent sales tax on “consumable hemp products,” defined as finished products that contain hemp and that contain no more than 0.3 percent THC. Hemp products made from stalks or seed—that is, for fiber or food use—would not be included in the definition, nor would pharmaceuticals approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Revenue Committee chair Sen. Lou Ann Linehan (R), who has played a central role in the tax discussion, first introduced the 30 percent hemp tax two weeks ago, in an earlier bill she sponsored. A separate proposal she introduced during the regular legislative session would have taxed consumable hemp and CBD at 100 percent, a rate that was later reduced to 25 percent before the underlying bill fizzled out.

“The 100% tax was unworkable for CBD companies in our state. They were concerned it would drive them out of business,” Sen. Anna Wishart (D), who’s backed past efforts to end marijuana prohibition in the state, told Marijuana Moment in an email at the time. “In talking with representatives from a group of CBD companies in the state, I worked with them and other senators to negotiate the tax down to 25%.”

The rate is now at 30 percent in the bill moving to the floor.

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USDA Adds Another Hemp Industry Representative To Trade Committee To Promote The Crop Globally

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) have added another hemp industry executive to a federal trade advisory committee to help bolster efforts to promote U.S.-grown cannabis around the world.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and USTR Representative Katherine Tai announced on Thursday that they have appointed Dylan Summers, vice president of government affairs for the CBD company Lazarus Naturals, to their Agricultural Technical Advisory Committee (ATAC) for Trade in Tobacco, Cotton, Peanuts and Hemp.

Summers is one of four hemp industry stakeholders on the 14-member ATAC, alongside National Industrial Hemp Council (NIHC) President Patrick Atagi, NIHC board member Patricia Sheikh and the Oregon Hemp Commission’s Eric Pike, who also founded the CBD company Root Origins.

The ATAC focused on tobacco, cotton, peanuts and hemp is one of six advisory committees under USDA and USTRE that offer the government technical advice about specific agricultural commodities and products.

A former marketing executive at NIHC, Kevin Latner, was appointed to a separate ATAC focused on processed foods in 2020. But he’s since left NIHC and is now affiliated with a group that deals with leather materials, while still serving on the committee.

As the latest member, Summers will serve as a hemp representative on the ATAC until at least 2028.

“The advisory committee system was created by Congress to ensure that U.S. agricultural stakeholders have input and insight into U.S. trade policy and negotiating objectives,” USDA said in an advisory. “Applications for committee membership are encouraged at any time and will be considered for future appointments.”

In recognition of hemp’s growing role in the agriculture sector, USDA and USTR formally renamed the ATAC to include last year to include the name of the crop. Previously, the first hemp appointees served on what was then called the ATAC for Trade in Tobacco, Cotton and Peanuts.

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Ohio GOP Lawmakers File Bills To Restrict And Regulate Intoxicating Hemp Products, Including Delta-8 THC

As Ohioans wait to legally purchase recreational-use marijuana, Republican lawmakers in both chambers of the General Assembly are trying to regulate adult-use hemp products.

State Rep. Sara Carruthers (R-Hamilton) introduced House Bill 642 on Thursday which would require the Ohio Director of Agriculture to issue recommendations for adult-use hemp products.

If the bill were to pass, the Director of Agriculture (who is currently Brian Baldridge) would conduct and issue a report to the General Assembly about the “sale and use of hemp products that could be used for intoxicating purposes.” The report would be in consultation with the Ohio Department of Public Safety.

The report could include:

  • A definition of adult-use hemp products that could include restrictions on the amount of THC allowed in adult-use hemp products based on serving size.
  • Where adult-use hemp products may be sold and how those products are stored.
  • Minimum age requirements to purchase adult-use hemp.
  • Penalties for selling adult-use hemp products to someone who is underage.
  • Testing standards and requirements for adult-use hemp products.
  • Advertising restrictions and labeling requirements for adult-use hemp products.
  • How to enforce these recommendations, which could be giving inspection authority to the Ohio Investigative Unit in the Department of Public Safety.

If the recommendations are adopted, they would be in effect for one year.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) called on lawmakers earlier this year to ban or regulate delta-8, which he called “intoxicating hemp.”

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