More States Regulate Hemp Products

Texas just began some regulation of THC products that are hemp-derived, though the legislature failed in a special session to create a comprehensive program, and now California is calling out the results of its efforts:

Last year, Governor Newsom announced emergency regulations by the Department of Public Health to protect Californians, especially youth, from the adverse health effects of dangerous hemp cannabinoid products. The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) has seen a 99.78% compliance among its licensees this year. Since September 2024, ABC agents have visited 14,743 businesses and removed 7,210 illegal products from shelves at 151 locations.

I am not sure I like everything about this, which has been approved recently by the legislature (Assembly Bill 8), but we do need regulation of hemp products. The press release today said that this bill creates clear rules, protects youth, helps consumers and increases public safety. One regulator for all cannabis products makes sense!

Another state that is having problems in its view with hemp-derived THC is Kansas. The Kansas Reflector published an article about sales of the products in the state and raids. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation announced a crackdown on Wednesday and raided ten stores. "KBI was targeting illegal retail drug sales because teenagers were suffering dire health consequences from consuming products with high concentrations of THC." The 2018 Farm Bill that legalized hemp opened up these problems.

In recent years, enforcement of our laws against marijuana and THC in Kansas have been intermittently or, in some jurisdictions, not enforced at all. And so this is an announcement that that period of lax enforcement is ending, and the KBI has taken the lead in identifying places that have become particularly brazen in their selling of marijuana products.

Kris Kobach, Kansas Attorney General

I am for the free-market, but I understand the need for regulation and appreciate the efforts that people are making to fix the problems created by the federal government's legalization of hemp but total failure to regulate it.