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In less than five minutes — with no debate and no amendment — Alabama lawmakers advanced a bill that could criminalize legal products, gut small businesses, and send people in need to the black market. They say it’s about safety. But HB445 is a blunt instrument disguised as protection — and the fallout will be severe.
House Bill 445 hands sweeping power to the Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Board, bans all inhalable hemp products — including vapes, buds, and flowers — and forces what’s left into pharmacies and liquor stores. Never mind that those stores don’t carry these products or that they aren’t equipped to serve patients seeking plant-based alternatives. This isn’t about regulation. It’s about control.
HB445 is a case study in how to turn a legitimate concern into a harmful overreaction. You don’t reduce harm or promote public safety by forcing a legal industry into hiding. Yet that’s exactly what this bill does. People who rely on THCa, delta-8, or other hemp-derived products won’t stop needing them just because the state says so. They’ll turn elsewhere — to unregulated, untaxed, and potentially dangerous alternatives.
Meanwhile, thousands of Alabama’s small businesses — many of them family-owned — are left twisting in the wind. Stores that invested in compliance, lab testing, and clear labeling are now being told their best-selling products are contraband.
“This will crush us,” said one north Alabama shop owner. “We’ve followed every rule. Now we’re being told to stop selling what our customers actually use — or else.”
And what about the people who depend on these products to manage anxiety, chronic pain, insomnia, or PTSD? What about cancer survivors, veterans, and working parents who turned to legal hemp alternatives after finding traditional medications inadequate or unsafe?
“These products helped me get off opioids,” said a veteran and father of three in Mobile. “If this law passes the Senate, I’ll be back to square one — or I’ll have to go looking for alternatives I don’t trust.”
This isn’t smart regulation — it’s political panic dressed up in public safety language. And it’s going to hurt a lot of good, law-abiding people.
If lawmakers were truly serious about thoughtful reform, they’d look next door. In Tennessee, officials built a licensing framework that enforces age restrictions, labeling requirements, and lab testing — all without banning inhalable products or dismantling the entire industry. Tennessee didn’t treat small businesses and patients like problems to be solved. It treated them like stakeholders in the solution.
In Tennessee, leaders took the time to think before they acted. They didn’t ban first and ask questions later. They listened to farmers, retailers, and patients. They found a path forward. Alabama, meanwhile, rushed to the edge — and leapt.
HB445 is what happens when politics overrides policy. It’s what happens when public health becomes a talking point rather than a real objective. And it’s what happens when lawmakers mistake speed for seriousness.
The Senate still has time to stop this — and they’d be wise to take it. Because Alabama doesn’t need another crackdown wrapped in moral posturing. It needs leaders with the courage to do the hard work of real governance — to write laws that protect people, not punish them.
HB445 isn’t it. And the people of Alabama deserve better than what they’re being handed.
“}]] Lawmakers claim public safety, but HB445 will shut down small businesses, criminalize legal products, and push vulnerable Alabamians toward the underground market. Read More
