Critics say proposal for tight THC limits would wipe out market for CBD in California

A proposed amendment from California’s Department of Public Health that imposes strict limits on THC content in hemp products would effectively eliminate the market for broad spectrum and full spectrum CBD products, critics claim.

The amendment, which would set a total THC limit of 0.001 milligrams per gram and restrict cannabinoid products made from hemp to five servings per package, “would severely cripple, if not completely collapse, the state’s hemp-derived cannabinoid market,” according to trade group the U.S. Hemp Roundtable

‘Draconian’

USHR, calling the proposed changes “draconian,” said marijuana companies would be the only winners under the amendment.

The amendment would be attached to Assembly Bill 420, which aims to clean up provisions in current hemp laws and crack down on bad actors in the industry. State Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, a long-time hemp industry supporter, introduced AB 420.

AB420 “would revise and recast the provisions with the Sherman Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Law, regulating industrial hemp to redefine certain terms, expand the prohibition that raw hemp extract not exceed 0.3% of a tetrahydrocannabinol comparable cannabinoid, and prohibit the manufacture, distribution, or sale of an industrial hemp product that contains a cannabinoid that is not present in nature in commercially meaningful quantities, unless authorized by the department in regulation.”

Rejection urged

The bill would also require out-of-state hemp food and beverage makers to register to sell their products in California.

However, the proposed 0.001 mg/g THC maximum would have a devastating impact on the hemp cannabinoid sector in California and nationwide, said USHR General Counsel Jonathan Miller. USHR urged stakeholders to encourage Aguiar-Curry to reject the amendment.

AB 420 is a follow-on bill to Assembly Bill 45, which Aguiar-Curry previously shepherded into law. AB 45 removed restrictions on the marketing and sales of cannabinoid-containing extracts, dietary supplements, food, beverages, cosmetics, and pet foods. It also required the state’s Department of Cannabis Control to develop guidance for incorporating hemp cannabinoids into California’s cannabis supply chain. AB 420 is based on that guidance.