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Gov. Gavin Newsom fired a direct attack Friday on the booming hemp industry, filing emergency rules that would completely ban THC — an intoxicating compound found in cannabis — from hemp products in the state.
Hemp products are sold outside of regulated cannabis stores, and can be purchased online or at retail locations like gas stations throughout the state. Newsom said in a statement Friday that the emergency rules were needed to protect children.
“We will not sit on our hands as drug peddlers target our children with dangerous and unregulated hemp products containing THC at our retail stores,” Newsom said. “We’re taking action to close loopholes and increase enforcement to prevent children from accessing these dangerous hemp and cannabis products.”
The emergency rules would require that all hemp products in California have “no detectable amount of total THC,” and require that customers be over the age of 21 to purchase the products. The rules still need the approval of the California Office of Administrative Law before they go into effect, according to the Hill.
* CBS News…
Newsom noted that he was one of the earlier supporters for the passage of Prop 64 to legalize recreational marijuana use in California when the measure passed in 2016.
“As Lieutenant Governor, I set forth a framework where I thought we should responsibly begin to address the issue of reforms as it relates to the adult use of cannabis in the state of California,” he said.
However, he said that the emergency regulations being introduced on Friday were specifically aimed at companies in the hemp industry that are trying to profit by making intoxicating edibles, beverages and other products that skirt the age and sales restrictions that have been placed on recreational marijuana.
“None of us expected the kind of exploitation that we’ve experienced in the hemp industry,” Newsom said. What we’re doing today, as relates to emergency regulations, is because of that exploitation, because of the greed of many folks in the industry.”
* LA Times…
The governor introduced the proposed regulations weeks after Assembly Bill 2223, a state measure that would have instituted similar changes, died in committee.
Dr. Lynn Silver, senior advisor at the Public Health Institute, an Oakland-based independent nonprofit advocacy organization that advocated for AB 2223, said the new regulations “represent tremendous progress in protecting children and teenagers.” […]
“The way things are now at present, a 10-year-old can walk into a vape shop and buy intoxicating products with more THC than legal edible cannabis products,” Silver said. “These regulations will be a huge step to fix that.” […]
In 2021, Newsom signed a state law that capped the concentration of THC in hemp-containing food, beverages and cosmetics at 0.3%, and instituted requirements for labeling and testing of such goods. The goal, his office said at the time, was to allow for nonintoxicating hemp products to be legally and safely sold.
In the intervening years, some manufacturers have found ways to make hemp products that intoxicate consumers without running afoul of the 2021 requirements.
The draft proposal is here.
Like the California assembly, the Illinois legislature has not been able to get its act together on this topic. I doubt our governor has such expansive executive powers, however.
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Sep 9, 24 @ 2:10 pm
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Yeah, every suburb that hasn’t approved dispensaries inside its boundaries has instead found itself with a glut of “Delta-8 THC” signs glowing in the windows of smoke shops and convenience stores. I don’t care how much cheaper it is, kids, steer clear of the untested and unregulated gas station weed.
Comment by Roadrager Monday, Sep 9, 24 @ 2:21 pm
Actually, IDPH probably already has the authority to remove hemp thc/cbd from the marketplace. The Illinois Illinois Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, 410 ILCS 620. The Act give pretty broad authority to the Director of IDPH to determine a food is considered adulterated by a substance which is deleterious to health. If the Governor wanted to shut down the hemp market he could very easily by having IDPH determine that hemp is injurious to health and therefore any food, drug, or cosmetic product that contains it would be adulterated and prohibited on the Illinois market. Then they would have to enforce it.
Comment by Unionman Monday, Sep 9, 24 @ 3:36 pm