Please Support Assembly Bill (AB) 2223 if Amended.
AB 2223 Cannabis: Industrial Hemp (Aguiar-Curry) seeks to address important gaps in the earlier legislation and absence of regulatory action that have contributed to the statewide proliferation of dangerous highly intoxicating hemp products in our neighborhoods, schools and communities. With the recent amendments creating a 1 mg per package limit and prohibiting the production of synthetically derived cannabinoids by cannabis manufacturers, the bill has greatly improved and will have a substantial positive public health impact. Nevertheless, the bill still poses areas of concern.
Highly intoxicating industrial hemp products are now being sold across California and are legally available to children and youth at a wide range of businesses including convenience stores, gas stations, smoke shops, and vape shops, all outside of the legal cannabis system. This undermines the regulated cannabis industry while exposing children and consumers to harmful and intoxicating products. Child poisonings with hemp and cannabis products are up over 3,000% nationally.
Key amendments are still needed to ensure the health and safety of Californians. While we strongly support the provisions of AB 2223 that will strengthen local enforcement authority and preserve local authority from preemption, clearly prohibit synthetically derived cannabinoids, and establish serving sizes for edible hemp products, we also recommend the following:
- Require CDPH to set a limit of detection and content that does not exceed 0.5 mg per package.
- Make the prohibition of inhaled products permanent and clear by deleting them from the definition of industrial hemp.
- Not allow the entry of untaxed, more weakly regulated hemp products into cannabis stores, and particularly for hemp to be an additional source of THC for cannabis markets.
- Recommend a minimum age of 21 years be added for purchase of any industrial hemp product, given the known safety issues of CBD identified by the FDA and for parity with CBD sold in the legal cannabis market.
For these reasons, we respectfully request that the legislature exercise its responsibility to protect the children and youth of California from intoxicating hemp by approving AB 2223 with these proposed amendments. Thank you for your consideration.
