Regulations on hemp-derived cannabinoids in California face opposition from retailers and medical professionals

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This article originally appeared in our sister publication Cannabis Science and Technology.

In a recent response to California's Assembly Bill 2223, hemp retailer Sunmed | Your CBD Store stated its opposition to the bill in a July 25, 2024 press release, citing its negative effect on hemp products and retailers (1). Passed by the assembly in May, the bill would limit certain cannabidiol (CBD) products to contain a maximum of 0.25 milligrams of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) per serving per package, or 1mg of THC per final product (2). It would also allow licensed dispensaries to sell hemp products (2). Concerns have arisen over the bill’s unintended consequences in limiting certain products used by medical cannabis patients or sold by hemp companies.

As explained by the bill’s author, Assembly Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, the bill is intended to restrict the sale of intoxicating hemp products that include synthetically derived cannabinoids such as Delta-8 and Delta-9 (3). These products, through loopholes in the wording of the 2018 Farm Bill that legalized industrial hemp, are unregulated and are sold in various retail locations (3). “The bottom line is that if it gets you high, it should not be sold outside a dispensary. Period,” stated Aguiar-Curry, who has also acknowledged the possibility of modifications to the bill that would allow the sale of certain cannabis products used for medical purposes (3).

Several of the California Sunmed | Your CBD Store locations are in areas that prohibit dispensaries. "Conversion to dispensaries is neither financially obtainable nor desirable for store owners like myself, as our products are not designed for intoxication and do not cater to recreational marijuana users,” stated said Chad Paydo, owner of multiple Sunmed | Your CBD Store locations (1). “Customer feedback and sales data consistently show that our consumers seek full spectrum hemp for health and wellness benefits. Our clinically proven formulas assisting with sleep, anxiety, and relief will be criminalized under the current draft bill, while dispensaries offering highly intoxicating THC products continue to proliferate."

The bill has also prompted a response from Bonni Goldstein, MD, Medical Director and Owner at Canna-Centers Wellness and Education in California, whose pediatric patients rely on products containing various amounts of CBD and THC to treat their epilepsy and cancer (3). “It would be unethical and immoral to tell a family to stop using something that is working for their medically complex child,” she stated (3).

She also started an online petition in June to prevent the limitation of naturally-occurring, full-spectrum, hemp-derived CBD products that contain no more than 0.3% THC, arguing that they are not the same as synthetic Delta-8 and Delta-9 products that AB 2223 is pursuing (4).

The petition states, in part (4): “For most people, their hemp CBD cannot be substituted with CBD from dispensaries due to high cost/taxes (even with compassionate pricing) and too low concentrations, especially for those on high doses (some take 800 - 1600 mg per day). The FDA-approved CBD product and hemp CBD isolates are proven not as effective and have more side effects compared to full spectrum CBD so these are not an option for most patients with refractory conditions.”

AB 2223 is currently moving through the Senate (2).

References

1. SunFlora, Marijuana Monopolies Back Industry-Killing Hemp Legislation: Small Businesses Respond PR Newswire https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/marijuana-monopolies-back-industry-killing-hemp-legislation-small-businesses-respond-302206731.html (accessed July 26, 2024).
2. AB-2223, California Legislative Information, https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billVotesClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB2223 (accessed July 26, 2024).
3. Black, L., 'Catastrophic': California's crackdown on hemp could hurt pediatric patients https://www.sfgate.com/cannabis/article/pediatric-medical-cannabis-california-19565266.php (accessed July 26, 2024).
4. STOP THE BAN on naturally occurring CBD medicine in CA https://www.change.org/p/stop-the-ban-on-naturally-occurring-cbd-medicine-in-ca?source_location=search (accessed July 26, 2024).