Lawmakers in at least 19 states have introduced legislation this year to regulate or ban hemp-derived cannabinoid (HDC) products as concerns swell about their safety and sales to minors, as well as their impact on regulated cannabis markets.
The 2018 Farm Act legalized hemp that contained less than 0.3% delta-9 THC and all its derivatives. Without a new Farm Bill to address other intoxicating cannabinoids, state governments feel compelled to pass laws to rein in a quickly growing and unregulated industry.
Currently, 42 states, plus Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, have laws or executive orders that regulate, highly restrict or ban HDCs.
This year, the unregulated states of Nebraska, Illinois, Mississippi, Ohio and North Carolina look to add hemp laws. Several states aim to ban HDC products. Others are trying to tighten or clarify their current HDC regulations.
Four hemp-THC bans pass state chambers
Fast-moving bills in Mississippi, New Mexico, Georgia and Texas would ban practically all HDC products.
As amended, Mississippi’s HB 1502 would ban finished consumable hemp products with more than 0.3% delta-9 THC, as well as any amount of delta-8, delta-10 and other natural and artificially derived cannabinoids. Consumable hemp products include lubricants, salves and lotions. It would also require licensing by the Department of Health for consumable hemp retailers, wholesalers, manufacturers and processors. The bill was in conference committee as of March 27.
Hemp beverages would be regulated as light intoxicating beverages. They can contain no more than 5 milligrams per 12-ounce container.
Meanwhile, a more restrictive ban in Mississippi, SB 2314, died after passing the Senate.
Both chambers of the New Mexico state legislature passed a near-total HDC ban with HB 346. The legislation bans synthetic and “semi-synthetic” cannabinoids. Semi-synthetic is “a substance that is created by a chemical reaction that converts one cannabinoid extracted from Cannabis sativa L. directly into a different, cannabinoid,” but excludes decarboxylation of THCa.
It limits finished products to no more than 0.3% THC. Manufacturers would be licensed and retailers would be regulated by the Environmental Improvement Board.
In Georgia last year, Gov. Brian Kemp signed a bill that limited total delta-9 THC concentration in consumable products to 0.3% and prohibited hemp food products other than gummies, oils and non-alcoholic drinks. It required growers, processors, wholesalers and retailers of consumable HDC products to be licensed and products to be tested. It also prohibited the sale and possession of HDC products to people under age 21.
This year, Sen. Bill Cowsert introduced SB 254, which would ban hemp beverages and further restrict consumable hemp products. It would ban products with more than 10 mg total THC (including delta-8 and delta-10) per serving or 150 mg per container. Liquid tinctures would be limited to 1 mg total THC per l ml of liquid. Topical products, such as lotions, could have no more than 1,000 mg of THC. It passed the Senate on a 42-14 vote on March 6.
The Texas Senate passed SB 3 on March 19. It would ban consumable products that contain any amount of a cannabinoid other than CBD and cannabigerol (CBG), another cannabinoid found in young plants that research shows may have therapeutic benefits. It also requires licenses to sell products containing CBD and CBG.
Upon Senate passage, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick issued a statement in support of SB 3. “I named SB 3 a major legislative initiative of mine because I will not allow retailers to circumvent the law and put Texans’, and especially children’s, lives in danger,” he said. “These rogue retailers are selling THC products containing several times more THC content than marijuana purchased from a drug dealer off the street. These dangerous products must not be allowed to permeate our communities and endanger Texas children.”
Other hemp-related bills pending in Texas would make distribution of consumable hemp products a criminal offense.
Alabama (SB 132) and Nebraska (LB 316) also have bills that would directly or theoretically ban intoxicating HDCs.
States trying to rein in unregulated HDC markets
Nebraska Sen. Kathleen Kauth seeks to ban HDCs by defining legal hemp as having no more than 0.3% total THC and then prohibiting hemp possession, handling, transportation, processing and use, except for CBD. Cultivators must have a USDA license to grow and transport. LB 316 was prioritized by Sen. Jared Storm.
However, Sen. John Cavanaugh on March 12 submitted an amendment to change the definition from “total” THC to “delta-9” THC.
Although Nebraska doesn’t currently have laws regulating HDC products, it’s not stopping Attorney General Mike Hilgers. He recently sent cease-and-desist letters to 104 retail locations owned by 35 companies claiming they are selling products that exceed the 0.3% delta-9 THC limit, making them illegal marijuana. Kauth and Storm joined Hilgers at a March 20 news conference, according to a press release.
Illinois is another state that currently doesn’t have any intoxicating hemp regulations. Its HB 1 bill would require consumable hemp businesses to be licensed. The Department of Financial and Professional Regulation would issue retail licenses to sellers of hemp cannabinoid products and oversee distributors. For consumable, “ready-to-eat” products, a license from the Department of Public Health would also be required. Sales would be prohibited to people under age 21.
Taking a slower approach, HB 64 would require the Department of Public Health to adopt rules for consumable HDCs, including delta-8 and THCa. It would also ban sales to people under age 21.
Ohio has two separate bills that would require HDCs over 0.3% THC to be sold in licensed dispensaries, HB 160 and SB 86. But SB 86 would also establish a separate, three-tier framework for hemp beverages.
California, other states aim to regulate hemp in MJ market
Meanwhile, California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ban on all consumable hemp products with any detectable amount of THC has been quietly extended. The California Department of Public Health issued a Notice of Proposed Readopt of Emergency Regulations on March 6.
Sales of intoxicating HDC products were halted in September when Newsom issued his executive order after a bill to regulate these products failed to progress in the state legislature. He also ordered that the sale of any consumable industrial hemp product, including CBD, to people under the age of 21 be prohibited.
“The Department has found that the deemed emergency circumstances that necessitated the original emergency regulations in September 2024 still exists, and the readoption of the proposed regulations, as described below, is necessary to protect the public peace, health, safety, and general welfare of Californians,” the department said in its Finding of an Emergency.
This year, Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry introduced AB 8, which would expand the state’s cannabis law to include “industrial hemp that has undergone a process to transform the plant material into a cannabis product.”
It would allow HDC products to be sold in licensed cannabis shops. Currently, licensees cannot sell HDC products, so the consumable hemp industry in California has been dead since September.
All hemp products would need to go through the same regulatory system as cannabis, including track and trace, security and safety requirements, advertising and marketing restrictions, and lab testing standards.
Despite allowing at least a highly regulated hemp market, Jonathan Miller, general counsel of the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, said the organization opposes AB 8. “It would make permanent the Governor’s order,” he said in an email.
As unregulated HDC manufacturing and sales encroach on legal marijuana markets, lawmakers in other states are also trying to bring them into their regulated programs. New York, which already requires retailers selling HDC products to be licensed, would allow licensed cannabis businesses to sell HDC products as well with bill A 4574.
In Arizona, SB 1702 would require manufacturers and retailers to be licensed and lab testing.
But like in Nebraska, Arizona’s attorney general is not waiting for legislation to be passed. Attorney General Kris Mayes sent a letter to county law enforcement clarifying that all THC-infused edible products must be sold in licensed marijuana establishments under current law.
“My Office previously issued AGO Opinion No. I24-005, which prohibits the sale of delta-8 THC products and other hemp-synthesized intoxicants—whether currently existing or developed in the future—to include Delta-9 THC and similar derivatives,” Mayes said in the March 24 letter. “In other words, all THC-infused edible products cannot be sold in Arizona by an unlicensed entity.”
Mayes warned that the attorney general’s office will begin enforcing civil and criminal penalties on April 24, and local law enforcement can do so as well.
Other states with bills that would require licenses or permits to sell or manufacture HDC products include Indiana (SB 478), Missouri (SB 54) and North Carolina (S 264).
Bills to define, regulate legal HDC products
Meanwhile, other states are trying a more moderate approach to regulating HDC products by defining limits, prohibiting sales to minors, and requiring other safety-related regulations.
Tennessee, which does not have a legal cannabis market, has seven bills pending that would restrict HDCs but not ban them. The Senate has already passed HB 821/SB 707, which would require people purchasing smokable hemp to be at least 21 years old.
Florida lawmakers, once again, seek to limit delta-9 THC in products with a couple of bills after the governor vetoed legislation last year. SB 1030 is the more restrictive bill, allowing only 2 mg of delta-9 per serving. It would ban delta-8 THC and smokable products, as well as gas station sales. HB 601 has a 25 mg per serving limit and lets convenience stores sell only hemp beverages.
A couple of bills in Connecticut (HB 7178, SB 970) would redefine legal hemp and allow HDC manufacturers to sell high-THC products out of state, among other hemp regulatory changes, to support a declining hemp farming industry.
Another New York bill (A 977) would limit the potency of THC in hemp products to 25%. It would also limit THC in cannabis products.
Both Arizona (SB 1556) and Massachusetts (H 357/S 222) have legislation that would limit hemp-derived THC in beverages. Meanwhile, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear signed similar legislation (SB 202) into law on March 25.
