John SchroyerA California ban on intoxicating hemp products, such as THC-infused seltzers, that was set to expire at the end of March has been extended through the end of June, pending approval by one state agency.
The ban, which was first established in September by Gov. Gavin Newsom after the state legislature failed to pass a bill regulating intoxicating hemp goods, is technically a set of emergency regulations issued by the state Department of Public Health. That same agency quietly issued a bulletin last week announcing that the emergency rules would be kept in place as long as the Office of Administrative Law signed off on the extension.
But the ban can only be extended twice, SFGate reported, meaning it still has a limited lifespan unless it’s made permanent by the legislature.
The ban also survived a legal challenge last fall from hemp companies that argued in a lawsuit that the new rules ran afoul of federal hemp legalization, which was approved by Congress in the 2018 Farm Bill and jumpstarted the national intoxicating hemp trade.
California is far from alone in tackling intoxicating hemp goods. Georgia, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia are just some of the states that have been weighing similar bans or have already put them in place.
The situation has marijuana and hemp companies at each others’ throats, with a good number of traditional marijuana companies in California and other states calling for hemp businesses to be held to the same regulatory standards they must meet, while others have simply crossed over into the hemp business.
