Ahead of a legislative committee hearing set for Monday, stakeholders are expressing concerns over a California bill aimed at regulating commercial activity around hemp-derived cannabinoids. They say recently proposed amendments from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) office would fundamentally reshape the state’s cannabis industry and could cause chaos by attempting to fold hemp products into the state’s marijuana supply chain.
Critics—including licensed marijuana growers in California, the hemp industry and medical patients who use hemp-derived CBD—have an array of worries about how the measure would impact both the hemp and marijuana markets. Licensed marijuana cultivators, for example, say they’d all of a sudden have to compete against out-of-state hemp companies that would be permitted to sell hemp into California’s cannabis system without having to comply with costly state regulations.
Parents of children who use CBD for medical reasons, meanwhile, argue that regulating hemp-derived cannabinoids more like marijuana would block access to products they use to manage seizure disorders and other conditions.
The bill, AB 2223, from Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D), is set to be discussed Monday in the Senate Appropriations Committee. It would need to pass out of committee by August 16 in order to remain in play this session.
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