Newsom urges emergency rules to curb sale of hemp products with potent high
Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed emergency regulations aimed at reining in the manufacture and sale of illegal hemp products that contain intoxicating cannabinoids such as THC.
The new rules would close loopholes that manufacturers in the “intoxicating hemp” industry have exploited to skirt restrictions on hemp products, allowing them to sell consumable goods with heavily inebriating effects, Newsom’s office said in a statement Friday morning.
The products have become widely available at some smoke shops, gas stations and other retailers in recent years.
The regulations would require that such products contain no detectable levels of THC — the main psychoactive component in cannabis — or other cannabinoids, that packages of the products are limited to five servings and that their sale is restricted to people 21 or older.
More than 11% of high school seniors said in a national survey that they had used delta-8 THC, a psychoactive compound that is derived from hemp, in the last year.
“We’re taking action to close loopholes and increase enforcement to prevent children from accessing these dangerous hemp and cannabis products,” Newsom said in the statement.
Once the regulations are approved by the state Office of Administrative Law, they will go into effect immediately, after which sellers will be required to restrict purchases in accordance with the changes and pull noncompliant hemp products from their shelves.
State and local law enforcement agencies and state regulatory agencies including the departments of Public Health, Cannabis Control, Alcoholic Beverage Control, and Tax and Fee Administration will immediately begin enforcing the new rules after they are approved, according to Newsom’s statement.
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.”
The new rules are a response “to increasing health incidents related to illegal hemp products, which state regulators have found sold across the state, especially beverages and food products. Children are particularly at risk should they consume these products,” Newsom’s statement Friday said.
The Times teamed up with WeedWeek to test dozens of over-the-counter cannabis products. More than half had unsafe levels of pesticides.
In a news conference Friday morning, Newsom said he experienced “a renewed vigor” to address the issue after his preteen son told him he had older friends who were “buying some stuff they shouldn’t be” from the grocery store. When he went to see for himself, Newsom says he found intoxicating beverages sharing shelf space with LaCroix seltzer water and other non-intoxicating drinks.
“It’s a disgrace and it’s a shame and the industry bears full responsibility for not policing itself, for the proliferation of these intoxicating products that are hurting our children,” Newsom said as he stood next to a pile of colorfully packaged intoxicating hemp beverages and gummies that he said had been purchased on Thursday, adding later that “we’ve had enough. And so these emergency regulations will allow us to move forward to clamp down on 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.
“These emergency regulations will create a safer, more transparent marketplace while safeguarding our youth and preserving the integrity of — and critical tax revenues from — California’s cannabis legalization framework,” the California Cannabis Industry Assn. said in an emailed statement Friday.
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