The California cannabis and hemp markets could see a number of major changes in the future, should a newly introduced draft bill pass.
California Assembly Member Cecilia Aguiar-Curry introduced AB 2223 on Feb. 7, which proposes a number of significant changes to the Golden State’s cannabis and hemp industries.
One of the most prominent changes would allow the cannabis industry to use hemp, effectively introducing hemp products as part of the cannabis industry.
Combining the California Hemp and Cannabis Industries?
Specifically, the bill would alter California cannabis law to allow cannabis licensees to sell and/or incorporate industrial hemp products and its derivatives.
According to an analysis from the Canna Law Blog, manufacturers would be allowed to procure industrial hemp or derivatives from those registered through the California Department of Public Health (CDPH). Once regulations are adopted, cannabis licensees could procure their own CDPH registration at the same premises of their cannabis operations.
Hemp products would be under the same legal jurisdiction as cannabis and would similarly be tracked and traced in separate batches. Should the law pass, California would have until July 1, 2025 to implement regulations.
The bill would also crack down on “synthetic cannabinoids,” or delta-9 THC “that has been converted from a hemp-derived cannabinoid.” Retailers would also not be allowed to sell “converted” delta-9 THC, according to the report. “Industrial hemp” would also be defined to exclude any “synthetically derived cannabinoid.”
Essentially, changes in a cannabinoid’s molecular structure would make it synthetically derived by the bill’s standards, so hemp-derived delta-9 THC would not be the only targeted compound should it pass.
New Regulations for Hemp Products
Finally, the bill would impose new standards for hemp food and beverages: A single serving of an industrial hemp product would be based on the amount of food or beverage that is typically consumed during one occasion (pertaining specifically to the given consumable product). It would also ensure that a single serving of an industrial hemp dietary supplement in pill, tablet or capsule form to only be manufactured as a single unit.
The bill would also cap hemp food and beverage products at five servings per package and put a total THC cap on products. However, the bill — still in draft form — does not actually include a THC limit in the text, reading, “An industrial hemp final form product shall not have a level of total THC that exceeds _______. A qualified testing laboratory shall establish a limit of detection of ______ or lower for total THC and a sample shall pass if total THC does not exceed the limit of detection.”
Should the law advance, especially given some of these gaps in the draft, it’s likely that it could undergo a number of significant changes as it moves through the state legislature.
An Established Cannabis Market and the Lingering 2023 Farm Bill
California voters ushered in the state’s modern era of legal adult-use cannabis in 2016, with sales officially launching in 2018. The state currently operates the largest cannabis industry in the world, boasting a combined $5.9 billion in revenue for medical and recreational sales in 2023.
The legislation comes as the federal 2023 Farm Bill looms. The last iteration of the bill from 2018 effectively legalized the regulated production of hemp in the United States, deeming hemp crops as those not exceeding 0.3% THC by dry weight.
In November 2023, President Biden extended the 2018 Farm Bill, allowing authorized programs to continue through Sept. 30, 2024.
It’s still unclear as to when the 2023 Farm Bill will be announced, when updates will take effect and how they may alter legislation like the newly introduced California bill. Many hope that this new iteration of the Farm Bill will up the limit for THC.
However, given the broader national pushback against hemp-derived THC—largely the loophole in the 2018 Farm Bill that has allowed psychoactive, hemp-derived cannabinoids to take off—it may be more likely that the updated bill will close the loophole and potentially further limit THC in hemp and hemp-derived products.
