Governor Newsom issues regulations to protect kids from dangerous and intoxicating hemp products

News

Sep 6, 2024

What you need to know: Governor Newsom announced emergency regulations to ban THC-containing hemp products and create stronger state protections to safeguard California's children from the dangerous effects of unregulated THC.

SACRAMENTO - Governor Gavin Newsom today issued proposed emergency regulations to protect youth from the adverse health effects of dangerous hemp products. The regulations, proposed by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), strengthen California's ability to stop the peddling of intoxicating hemp products to California's children. The new regulations require that industrial hemp food, beverage, and dietary products intended for human consumption have no detectable THC or other intoxicating cannabinoids per serving, create a minimum age to purchase hemp products to 21, and limit the number of servings of hemp products to five per package.

"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. We're taking action to close loopholes and increase enforcement to prevent children from accessing these dangerous hemp and cannabis products."

Governor Gavin Newsom

The emergency regulations respond to increasing health incidents related to intoxicating 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. Studies show that use of these products can negatively impact cognitive functions, memory, and decision-making abilities in developing brains.

"Intoxicating industrial hemp products can cause illness and injury to California consumers," said Tomás Aragón, CDPH Director and State Public Health Officer. "We are working to ensure products in the marketplace comply with state laws that protect consumers against these public health risks and have proposed emergency regulations that will improve protections for consumers."

California became the first state to allow medicinal cannabis use when voters passed the Compassionate Use Act in 1996, and then in 2016, voters legalized the recreational use of cannabis. California's cannabis industry is strictly regulated to ensure that businesses operate safely, products are labeled and tested to be free of contaminants, and that children are prevented from accessing cannabis products. However, without stronger laws and regulations, hemp manufacturers can skirt the law to produce and market hemp products that contain THC.

The new regulations ban any detectable quantity of THC from consumable hemp products such as beverages, food, and dietary products to protect youth and mitigate the risk of adverse health effects.

The emergency regulations will also bring the sale of hemp products more in line with restrictions currently seen in the California legal cannabis market by limiting serving and package size and establishing a minimum age of 21 to legally purchase industrial hemp food, beverage and dietary products.

"The Department of Cannabis Control welcomes these regulatory reforms," said Nicole Elliott, Director of the Department of Cannabis Control. "These rules are a critical step in ensuring the products in the marketplace align with the law's original intent, and we are committed to working with our state partners to enforce state law."

These regulations will take effect immediately upon approval by the Office of Administrative Law. Sellers must begin to implement purchase restrictions and remove consumable hemp products containing any levels of detectable THC from shelves. State regulators, including the Department of Public Health, the Department of Cannabis Control, the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC), the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA), and state and local law enforcement officials, will begin immediate enforcement action.

"The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control will enforce all California laws and regulations impacting ABC licensed locations," said Joseph McCullough, Director of ABC. "ABC will be contacting licensees and stakeholder groups to make them aware of the new regulations so they can ensure they are in compliance once the regulations go into effect."

"Our cannabis and tobacco inspectors are out in the field every day so that consumers can know that the items on store shelves are legal in California, properly tested, labeled, and taxed," said Nick Maduros, Director of CDTFA. "We will continue working with our colleagues at the state and local levels to educate retailers and enforce California law."

The draft regulations can be found here.

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