CDPH Holds Hearing on CA Hemp Regulations

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The California Dept. of Public Health held a hearing today on proposed regulations extending a ban on hemp-derived products with any amount of THC, along with establishing an age limitation of 21, limiting the number of doses per container to five, etc. The full transcript of the hearing will be available later today or tomorrow, and comments are accepted until the end of business day. Write here.

If approved, the proposed regulations would make permanent Gov. Newsom’s September 2024 emergency regulation banning hemp products. Initial enforcement efforts by the ABC took intoxicating hemp drinks out of liquor and grocery stores, but all reports are that smoke shops, gas stations, and the Internet continue to carry all manner of hemp-derived products containing large amounts of THC and analogues like delta-8 and delta-10 THC, THC-O, HHC, and other ingredients, like mushrooms. Testing is nonexistent for these products, and labeling is inaccurate and often dangerous, especially since the places where they are sold don’t necessarily check IDs for the age of the purchaser.

Many of Cal NORML’s business members have complained that the sale of hemp products are undermining their businesses, rightly crying fowl that they are subject to taxes and regulations that hemp companies are not.

Cal NORML commented at the meeting, saying:

Cal NORML supports the intent of DPH’s proposed regulation to prevent the sale of intoxicating hemp products in smoke shops, liquor stores, gas stations and other convenience stores, especially in a manner accessible to minors. However, we believe that the definition of “non-intoxicating” hemp products is overly restrictive in requiring that products have “no detectable amount” of THC, as this wrongly excludes medicinally useful, high CBD extracts with negligible psychoactivity. 

We recommend that the regulation be modified to follow the Colorado Department of Public Health’s definition of “non-intoxicating hemp,”  which protects natural high-CBD hemp extracts whose CBD:THC ratio is at least 15:1 and whose total THC content per dose does not exceed 1.75 milligrams — less than enough to produce a detectable high.  “One dose” should be interpreted to mean one full piece of an edible or one full container of an extract or beverage.   

Read Cal NORML’s full testimony to CDPH. 

Also speaking at the meeting was Cal NORML board member, attorney Lauren Mendelsohn, who advocated for CDPH to establish a hemp retailer license with a low barrier to entry, so that the agency could take regulatory control of the market.

Others agreed with the 15:1 CBD:THC ratio advanced by Cal NORML, although some asked for higher (3 mg – 10 mg) or lower (0 – 1 mg) THC amounts permissible in therapeutic CBD products. Some questioned the five-dose limit as too restrictive for customers’ convenience.

Licensed cannabis retailers on the call expressed a desire to sell hemp-derived products in their shops, under same regulations in Prop. 64. “It’s not just unfair, it’s dangerous and it’s killing our market,” said one. Another noted, “We we are not the ones selling to children. We need the hemp market to be regulated and under same umbrella.” Others pointed out that their customers are having negative effects from hemp-derived products, and it’s undermining trust in the cannabis market.

Consultant Morris Cunningham pointed out that Oregon offers a hemp handler’s license and has been able to bifurcate the market. Minnesota was another state mentioned that has hemp retail licenses.

Advocates from the LA area reported on visiting local smoke shops and finding as many as 85% offered colorfully packaged products containing THC levels well about the federal limit of 0.3%, delta-8 THC promoted as safe, and gummies containing mushrooms and THC.

Cal NORML supports a pending bill by Sen. Wiener, SB 378, that would impose strict liability for damages caused to the consumer on an online marketplace that facilitated the connection between a consumer and an unlicensed seller of a cannabis or intoxicating hemp product. In addition, we support AB 8 (Aguiar Curry), to authorize licensees to manufacture, distribute, and sell hemp and CBD products in compliance with current law. That bill is heading to Senate Appropriations for a hearing on 8/18, along with AB 564 to lower cannabis taxes, and other bills.

Read about the bills Cal NORML is tracking in 2025. 

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