New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on Thursday signed into law a new bill that forces intoxicating hemp goods into the same regulatory system under which state-legal marijuana companies labor, and also requires retailers to cease selling all such hemp goods until they’ve received formal approval from marijuana officials.
Now, the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC) will have full purview over intoxicating hemp goods that have proliferated nationally in the wake of the 2018 Farm Bill, the Asbury Park Press reported. That will include drafting new rules and regulations, such as product safety testing and labeling, for hemp companies that want to continue manufacturing intoxicating goods.
But for now, any and all retailers selling such hemp products – ranging from gas stations to convenience stores and liquor stores – have to yank them off their shelves within 30 days, according to the Asbury Park Press. That product moratorium will last at least 180 days, at which point the commission is mandated to have the new hemp rules finished.
Once specific products gain approval from the commission, however, only licensed cannabis dispensaries will be permitted to sell them, meaning intoxicating hemp products are now permanently off-limits for most mainstream retailers. And they’ll only be available to consumers 21 years old or over.
In a signing statement, Murphy said that the “status quo is untenable, and this bill will put an end to it.”
But Murphy also criticized the bill for not going far enough, and noted that political concessions were granted to alcohol distributors, who will be allowed to sell intoxicating hemp products at the wholesale level, though not directly to consumers. He also said the bill leaves the CRC potentially without the necessary resources to implement an effective and responsible hemp regulatory system.
Murphy also said there were still “significant questions” about how the new state law would square with federal hemp laws and definitions, and said “clarifying legislation” will likely be necessary in the near future from the state capitol.
“Unlike many issues, the status quo poses an immediate risk to health and safety, as these unregulated intoxicating hemp products are widely available to minors,” Murphy said. “Because the bill would address this present danger, I have concluded that the wiser course is to sign the bill now and commit to working with the Legislature to address the technical issues and other challenges in separate legislation.”
Philip Petracca, owner of hemp company Bella Ray Beverage, said the new bill is “devastating” to his business and similar hemp ventures, and told the Asbury Park Press he’s invested more than $1.5 million into the business.
“Everybody is on board with taking the unregulated, untested synthetic THC products off the market. But that’s not what they did,” Petracca told the Asbury Park Press. “What they did was kill the hemp industry.”
The move makes New Jersey only the latest state to take such steps in the wake of the booming hemp trade. The governor of California also recently issued a similar emergency rule order to address intoxicating hemp products, and hemp companies have even sued the state of Missouri in an attempt at overturning a similar ban.
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