On September 24th, 2024, the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, a group of California hemp farmers and businesses filed a lawsuit against the regulations.
On September 23, 2024, California’s Secretary of State approved and filed emergency regulations proposed by the state’s Department of Public Health on September 4, 2024. The regulations prohibit any detectable levels of THC from hemp products, limit the serving size of hemp products to five, and create a minimum age of 21 to purchase hemp-derived products. The purpose of the regulations, says California’s Governor Newsom, is to protect consumers from intoxicating hemp products, but the regulations impact a wide swath of hemp-derived products including non-intoxicating extracts that contain cannabidiol. Many full spectrum hemp-derived extracts contain 0.3% THC or less, which is the threshold allowed for hemp products set forth by the 2018 Farm Bill.
On September 24th, 2024, the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, a group of California hemp farmers and businesses that include Cheech and Chong’s, Juicetiva Inc., Blaze Life LLC, Boldt Runners Corporation, Lucky To Be Beverage Co., and Sunflora Inc., filed a lawsuit against the regulations.
“Gov. Newsom’s misguided efforts to destroy a thriving hemp industry – one that he helped create in signing AB 45 three years ago – clearly violate state and federal law,” said Jonathan Miller, U.S. Hemp Roundtable’s general counsel, in a statement. “We are confident that the courts will agree that the Governor does not come close to demonstrating an ‘emergency’ exists, and the devastation that he would unleash on hemp farmers, small businesses and product consumers must be forestalled. We are hopeful that once relief is granted, the Governor will finally meet with the hemp industry to appropriately address his stated mission: to develop a robust regulatory regime that promotes health and safety and keeps hemp products out of the hands of minors.”
The U.S. Hemp Roundtable also intends to petition a temporary restraining order to prevent the regulation’s enforcement until the close of the lawsuit.
The Top 10 Articles from Cannabis Science and Technology in 2024
January 7th 2025It’s that time of year again—the Cannabis Science and Technology (CST) top 10 articles from the previous year. CST published a wide variety of content throughout 2024. Here is just a small snippet of some of the top articles that our readers enjoyed. See if any of your favorites made the list!
Cannabis, US Presidential Election 2024, and Beyond: A Roundtable Discussion, Part II
December 17th 2024With the recent 2024 presidential election behind us, the future of cannabis still has many unknowns moving forward and questions still to be discussed. In this roundtable discussion with four knowledgeable industry leaders, we explore the nuanced political landscape of cannabis legalization and rescheduling in the context of the election, including state and federal policies and possible paths forward for testing standardization. Join us in the second part of a compilation of responses from Kim Anzarut, CQA, CP-FS, CEO of Allay Consulting; Susan Audino, PhD, founder of S.A. Audino & Associates, LLC; Zacariah Hildenbrand, PhD, research Professor at the University of Texas at El Paso; and David Vaillencourt, CEO of The GMP Collective.