Tag: hemp

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.

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Oregon Marijuana Business Files New Lawsuit Challenging Ban On Interstate Cannabis And Hemp Commerce

An Oregon marijuana business has filed a new federal lawsuit against the state, challenging the constitutionality of laws prohibiting interstate cannabis commerce.

After filing an initial suit in 2022—and later withdrawing it amid expectations of unspecified “big things” coming—the cannabis wholesaler Jefferson Packing House (JPH) filed a revised complaint on Wednesday with the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon.

The latest suit is lengthier than the original, and it makes additional arguments about the alleged illegality of state laws barring marijuana and hemp businesses from exporting products across state lines.

At issue in the case is the Dormant Commerce Clause (DCC) of the U.S. Constitution, which generally prevents states from imposing restrictions on interstate commerce in order to ensure competitiveness in the open market.

While marijuana remains federally illegal, the plaintiffs assert that the DCC still precludes Oregon from imposing trade restrictions between states.

“Oregon law harms JPH by increasing its operating costs and preventing it from taking advantage of economies of scale,” the filing states, adding that state statute also harms the business with respect to hemp, which was federally legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill.

Barring exports of marijuana and hemp puts JPH “at a competitive disadvantage in the market,” the complaint says, because it can’t source cannabis products from out of state and can’t ship products outside of Oregon, “both of which limit its customer base and ability to offer a complete range of products at the best prices.”

State law “discriminates against interstate commerce by nakedly prohibiting such commerce, without any legitimate, non-protectionist purpose, and is therefore prohibited by the Dormant Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution,” it says. “There is no constitutionally adequate reason for Oregon, or any other State, to bar the import or export” marijuana or hemp.

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Bipartisan Lawmakers Say Hemp THC Ban In Spending Bill Violates Congressional Rules, As They Prepare New Measure To Regulate Market

Bipartisan House lawmakers are pushing back against 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.

In a letter sent to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on Friday, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) and 26 other members said the appropriations legislation that’s advancing in the House with the hemp ban provisions intact would upend the industry that’s emerged since the crop was legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill.

While the Senate ultimately stripped similar language from its version of the agriculture spending measure following a procedural protest from Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), there’s still concern among stakeholders that it could wind up in the final package delivered to the president following bicameral negotiations.

If that were to happen, the lawmakers wrote that “it would deal a fatal blow to American farmers supplying the regulated hemp industry and small businesses, and jeopardize tens of billions of dollars in economic activity around the country.”

“Additionally, there are serious procedural concerns with how the language ended up in these bills,” they said. “This language has not been considered in a markup or hearing by any relevant authorizing committee and there was no public forum for members to express concerns with this language and preferred alternative legislation more appropriate for the relevant authorizing committees.”

Specifically, the letter says the inclusion of the hemp provisions in the House bill “clearly violates” a rule prohibiting language that changes existing law through general appropriations legislation.

“Perhaps most concerning is the characterization by proponents of this language that the bill will not negatively impact the industrial hemp industry,” it says, referring to comments from certain legislators such as Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) who have championed the controversial proposal.

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Farmers Tell Mitch McConnell His Push To Ban Hemp Products With THC Will Cause ‘Catastrophic Consequences’

Dozens of hemp farmers from Kentucky are urging their state’s senior U.S. senator to back off from his push to recriminalize some products that are derived from their crops.

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who successfully championed the federal legalization of hemp through the 2018 Farm Bill, has been working this year to roll back that policy by prohibiting hemp derivatives with a “quantifiable” amount of THC, saying that he never intended to allow a market for intoxicating cannabis products.

The recriminalization proposal has advanced in both the House and Senate this session, though a push by McConnell’s home state colleague, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), got the provision removed from their chamber’s bill ahead of its final passage. Paul has cautioned, however, that prohibitionist forces are working to include the ban in other legislative vehicles—which he said could potentially be enacted within weeks.

“If Congress moves to eliminate the end markets that make our crop viable, we will suffer immediate and catastrophic consequences,” the 58 farmers who have agreements to sell hemp crops they have harvested this season wrote to McConnell in the new letter on Monday. “We have taken out loans, hired the necessary help, planted the crop, and contracted with processors and/or brands. Any legislative change that pulls the rug out from under this market—especially mid-season—is a direct blow to our farms, families, and rural communities.”

The farmers, who are requesting an in-person meeting with McConnell, wrote that “hemp is the foundation of our diversified, sustainable farm operations that helps us weather tough commodity cycles, diversify away from tobacco and empower profit in an uncertain economy”—adding that its federal legalization in 2018 gave them a new crop with “real economic opportunity” for the “first time in decades.”

While the letter signatories do not support a ban along the lines of what McConnell has pushed in Congress this year—which they say would “empower the illicit market and destroy American farm income in the process”—they do back “responsible regulation” for the crop.

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New Texas Emergency Rules Ban Hemp Sales To People Under 21 In Line With Governor’s Executive Order

Texas officials have quickly adopted changes to the state’s hemp laws, consistent with the governor’s recent executive order, making it so people under the age of 21 will no longer be permitted to purchase consumable hemp products.

The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) issued an emergency rule that took effect on Tuesday, stipulating that no businesses licensed under the agency may sell cannabis to those under 21. Doing so will now result in an automatic license or permit cancellation.

Failing to check IDs to ensure that a patron is of age will also carry the penalty of an automatic license cancellation.

“This emergency adoption is necessary to help prevent minors from accessing and using consumable hemp products (CHP) that will negatively impact the minors’ health, which in turn negatively impacts the general welfare and public safety,” TABC said in a notice.

And while it was just two weeks ago that Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed an executive order laying out new rules for the hemp market, the agency said that the rules are being adopted on an “emergency basis” and take effect immediately “because an imminent peril to the public health, safety, or welfare requires adoption on fewer than 30 days’ notice.”

“The harms associated with cannabis/THC use by minors are well documented,” it said.

State statute says emergency rules can only be effective for up to 180 days, and TACB said it ‘intends to propose these or similar rules under the normal rulemaking process and will consider any additional action necessary in the event unforeseen issues arise with the adopted sections. Future rulemaking may also provide additional guidance.”

While the rules are actively in effect, the agency noted that it will begin enforcement on October 1.

The Texas Cannabis Collective, which strongly resisted recent proposals in the legislature to ban hemp with any amount of THC, said the TABC action “follows Governor Abbott’s decisive steps earlier this year” when he vetoed a Senate bill to recriminalize consumable cannabinoid products.

Meanwhile, Texas officials have separately taken another step toward implementing a law to significantly expand the state’s medical marijuana program—proposing rules to to let physicians recommend new qualifying conditions for cannabis and to create standards for allowable inhalation devices in line with legislation enacted by lawmakers and the governor earlier this year.

Last month, the Department of Public Safety (DPS) also posted a set of additional rules in the Register to increase the number of licensed medical marijuana dispensaries in Texas under the recently enacted legislation.

DPS will ultimately be issuing 12 new licenses for dispensaries across the state. Currently there are only three. The additional licensees will go through a competitive process, with officials prioritizing Texas’s public health regions to optimize access.

The first round of licenses will be awarded to nine of 139 applicants who submitted their forms during an earlier application window in 2023. DPS will select those nine licensees on December 1. The 2023 applicants that didn’t receive a license, as well as any new prospective licensees, will have another shot at getting their license during a second round where awardees will be announced on April 1, 2026.

DPS has separately previewed future rulemaking to comply with the medical marijuana expansion law.

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Texas Bills To Ban Consumable Hemp Products With THC Stall Out During Special Session

After several months of fiery debate and tearful testimonies over the prospect of banning THC statewide, proposed measures to do so have stalled in the Texas House.

Senate Bill 6, which would have created a blanket ban on products containing any “detectable amount of any cannabinoid” other than cannabidiol and cannabigerol, better known as CBD and CBG, non-intoxicating components of cannabis, hasn’t been heard in a House committee after the Senate passed it August 19. The House’s version of the bill hasn’t been heard in its chamber’s committee either.

Ten days might not be long for a bill to sit dormant during a regular legislative session, but with state leadership suggesting that the current special legislative session could wind down in the coming days, lawmakers would have to move fast on THC upon reconvening after Monday’s holiday.

Without further regulations or a ban being discussed by lawmakers in the House, the most likely scenario is that hemp-derived THC remains legal in Texas, but with more enforcement of current laws restricting the drug.

“It seems like a lot of people don’t want anything to do with it,” said Lukas Gilkey, chief executive of Hometown Hero, an Austin-based manufacturer of hemp-derived THC products. “It’s a hot potato.”

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South Dakota Medical Marijuana Industry Cheers Sting Operations On Hemp Product Sellers

South Dakota’s medical cannabis industry voiced its support for sting operations targeting sellers of hemp products that create a marijuana-like high.

The comments from Jeremiah Murphy, a lobbyist for the Cannabis Industry Association of South Dakota, came during Tuesday’s meeting of the state’s Medical Marijuana Oversight Committee.

Murphy’s association represents the state’s 116 licensed medical cannabis cultivators, manufacturers and dispensaries.

The industry “commends the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office” for its sting operation targeting hemp-based THC products at eight Rapid City-area smoke shops and convenience stores, Murphy said.

Law enforcement bought samples of gummies, THC drinks and other products with “hemp-derived” ingredients. Strains of THC is a family of high-inducing molecules found in large concentrations in the cannabis plant.

The hemp plant is a cousin to cannabis that contains tiny quantities of THC. Hemp-derived intoxicants often get their THC from chemically modified or distilled CBD. CBD is a different, nonintoxicating molecule found in cannabis and hemp.

Hemp is legal to cultivate under the 2018 farm bill, and hemp-derived products are legal under federal law. Since mid-2024, however, South Dakota has barred the sale–but not the possession–of products made with chemically synthesized versions of THC.

The Rapid City compliance check followed a July 10 letter from Pennington County State’s Attorney Lara Roetzel to businesses suspected of unlawful hemp sales.

Katy Urban, spokeswoman for Roetzel’s office, says the agencies are waiting for testing results to determine if any laws were broken.

Sioux Falls Police Department spokesman Aaron Benson said the SFPD has performed one compliance check, and is waiting on results from a lab test to determine how to proceed with one case. Benson declined to say how many businesses were visited, citing the open investigation.

Committee hears support for compliance

At Tuesday’s medical marijuana committee meeting, Murphy repeated an assertion he’s used for nearly two years now:  The availability of hemp-derived alternatives to medical cannabis puts the state’s highly regulated medical marijuana industry at a disadvantage.

“Why do I go to a doctor and pay him, and why go pay the state to pay even more money, when I can go to the vape shop, or I can go to the hemp store and they’re selling exactly what I need?” Murphy said.

The number of medical marijuana cards issued in the state stands at around 14,000, but changes slightly every day, Whitney Brunner of the Department of Health told the medical marijuana committee Tuesday.

“Any data point presented on patient cards is representative of a snapshot in time,” Brunner said.

Cards issuance has picked up slightly since voters rejected a ballot measure to legalize recreational cannabis last fall, but remained at about 14,000 as of this week. A little more than 70 percent of the cards have been issued to people for the management of chronic pain, Brunner told the committee.

Medical cannabis purveyors supported the law banning the sale of synthetically altered hemp products, but the law hasn’t led to a crush of cases against sellers. Around 100 charges had been filed as of last month, between juvenile and adult cases, according to the Unified Judicial System. Several of those charges were attached to individual defendants.

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Texas Senate Again Votes To Ban THC Hemp Products Despite Governor’s Push For Regulations

As the second special session of the Texas legislature commences, the state Senate has again approved a bill to that would ban hemp THC products.

Despite Gov. Greg Abbott (R) renewing his call for a regulatory model for intoxicating cannabinoids and an age limit of 21 to purchase such products, the Senate on Tuesday passed legislation from Sen. Charles Perry (R) to recriminalize the market in a 22-8 vote on third reading consideration. A day earlier the body had given initial approval to the measure on second reading.

This comes days after the Senate State Affairs Committee unanimously approved the proposal, which followed the full Senate’s passage of an identical bill in the first regular session this year.

“Nothing’s changed, other than the fact that more and more information comes out every week regarding the impact and effects of THC on the brain the body and long term use, and the impacts of that,” Perry said ahead of the initial vote on Monday. “This stuff is not good and it’s harmful for those that use it, specifically on a long-term basis.”

Before Tuesday’s final vote, Perry claimed that “every state that has legalized recreational pot may have less people in prison, but they have more people laying on the street—and definitely, from a business community, less people working because of lost productivity.”

“With that, I hope that the ban goes through…and sends a strong message: We don’t need to be another California, Colorado, Oregon, New Mexico, New York City,” he said.

Democratic House lawmakers staged a walkout during the first special session Abbott convened—denying the chamber a quorum in protest of a proposed redistricting plan for the state’s congressional map. Now as those members have ended their protest and head back to the legislature, hemp legislation is advancing again.

The bill approved by the Senate would continue to outright ban cannabis products with “any amount” of cannabinoids other the CBD and CBG. Even mere possession of a prohibited cannabis item would be punishable as a Class B misdemeanor, carrying up to 180 days in jail and a $2,000 fine.

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Texas Crime Labs Say They Don’t Have Enough Resources To Test Hemp Products For THC As Lawmakers Consider Ban

As Texas lawmakers debate whether to regulate or ban THC products, officials with the state’s crime labs say they don’t have the resources currently to enforce whatever law is passed.

“From a crime lab perspective, mercifully, we don’t have a dog in that fight. I really don’t care. Just tell me what I need to test, and then I need resources to be able to provide that result,” Peter Stout, president and chief executive officer for the Houston Forensic Science Center, told The Texas Tribune after he testified before the House Public Health Committee on Wednesday. “Otherwise, I become the reason the wheel falls off this wagon, which has basically been the last six years now.”

Wednesday’s committee hearing centered on House Bill 5, which would create a blanket ban on products containing any “detectable amount of any cannabinoid” other than cannabidiol and cannabigerol, better known as CBD and CBG, non-intoxicating components of cannabis. This bill would eliminate the majority of hemp products, including those that are legal under the federal definition.

”There’s been countless reports of artificial and synthetic cannabinoids and their effects on the consumer, and these products have become readily available,” said Rep. Gary VanDeaver, R-New Boston, the committee’s chair and HB 5’s author. “Some of these products are marketed in a way that is attractive to children, for example common food products, like candy.”

The Senate’s version of the bill also calls for a ban, but since Gov. Greg Abbott (R) earlier this year vetoed similar legislation that would have banned THC, some lawmakers have signaled they’d support more regulations over a ban.

Kim Carmichael, spokesperson for House Speaker Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, told The Texas Tribune that the House hasn’t committed to a ban.

“HB 5 was filed as a similar bill to what the House passed in the regular session, because that’s the most logical starting point for negotiations,” Carmichael said. “Since it passed in that form, members believed they should resume debate where it ended up. It would still go through the process of a public hearing and floor debate, so where it ends up is unknown at this time.”

Experts invited by lawmakers on Wednesday to talk about THC largely focused on the health dangers of THC, the possible criminal networks that underlie the industry, and the impossible task of enforcement.

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Texas DA known for naked stunts faces five years in prison after posting video of herself smoking weed in her garden

Best known for a viral video in which she straddled an oil pumping jack while topless and bottomless, a Texas elected official now faces jail time after smoking a joint on TikTok.

District Attorney Sarah Stogner, 41, could be incarceration after she posted a social media video of herself smoking weed in protest of a state ban on THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. 

The Republican made headlines in 2022 when she posted the viral clip of her riding the oil pump jack at the time she was running to be the state’s railroad commissioner.

Stogner, now the DA of Texas’s 143rd judicial district near Pecos, hopes her latest stunt might shame Texas into legalizing weed – especially if she is arrested and made a martyr for the cause. 

‘I did this to raise attention,’ she told Newsweek. 

‘Its silly that our elected officials want to completely ban THC when that’s not what our constituents want.’

Medical marijuana is legal in Texas, but recreational use of the drug is not. 

And in recent weeks, Lone Star State lawmakers passed a bill banning any products containing any ‘detectable amount of any cannabinoid.’

If signed into law, the bill would outlaw the majority of hemp products, including those that are legal under the federal definition in Texas. 

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