Personal recreational cannabis use was already legal in California prior to the federal Farm Bill. However, cannabis products were not legalized for sale to the general public.
On October 6, 2021, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the California State Bill AB-45 into law. AB-45 is comprehensive legislation that regulates and legitimizes the inclusion of industrial hemp in consumer products. The law allows hemp-derived THC to be used in consumer products and consumables, provided said products contain less than 0.3% Delta 9 THC.
Previously, the Sherman Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Law prohibited the sale of hemp-infused foods, dietary supplements, and cosmetics in California because they met the criteria of an adulterated product.
AB-45 amends the Sherman Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act so that dietary supplements, food, beverages, cosmetics, and pet food are not considered adulterated when hemp or its derivatives are present. The measure also requires hemp product producers to register, specifies comprehensive standards governing the packaging, labeling, and testing of finished hemp goods, and forbids the manufacturing and sale of inhalable hemp products.
In addition, the bill concerns the use of Delta-8 THC and "other similar cannabinoids" in finished hemp products.
Medical Marijuana in California
When voters approved the Compassionate Usage Act in 1996, California became the first state to legalize medical cannabis use. Both recreational cannabis and medical marijuana are legal in California.
On November 5, 1996, California took a significant step toward decriminalizing marijuana use. Proposition 215, often known as the "Compassionate Use Act of 1996," was approved in California. Proposition 215 was the first state-level medical marijuana ballot measure to succeed, allowing physicians to prescribe cannabis use to individuals suffering from specific diseases.
According to California medical marijuana laws:
- The California Department of Public Health's (CDPH) Medicinal Marijuana Identification Card Program operates a state-wide regulatory identification system. that mainly enforces access to medical marijuana today (MMICP).
- The program includes a state-wide identity card and a database of registered patients and physicians. This database enables law enforcement and other groups to hold California residents accountable for legal marijuana possession.
- Patients who have a doctor's recommendation can produce or possess more marijuana than recreational users.
- If you are under the age of 21, you must get a doctor's approval to acquire marijuana.
AB-45 California Industrial Hemp Law
Industrial hemp products
(1) Existing law, the Sherman Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Law, prohibits the manufacture, sale, delivery, holding, or offer for sale of adulterated foods, beverages, or cosmetics. Existing law prescribes when a food or beverage is adulterated, including if it bears or contains any poisonous or deleterious substance that may render it injurious to the health of a person or other animal that may consume it. Existing law prescribes when a cosmetic is adulterated, including when it bears or contains a poisonous or deleterious substance that may render it injurious to users under the conditions of use prescribed in the labeling or advertisement of the cosmetic, under customary or usual conditions.
This bill would require a manufacturer of dietary supplements and food that includes industrial hemp to register with the State Department of Public Health and to be able to demonstrate that all parts of the plant used come from a state or country that has an established and approved industrial hemp program, as defined, that inspects or regulates hemp under a food safety program or equivalent criteria to ensure safety for human or animal consumption and that the industrial hemp cultivator or grower is in good standing and compliance with the governing laws of the state or country of origin.
This bill would state that a dietary supplement, food, beverage, cosmetic, or pet food is not adulterated by the inclusion of industrial hemp or cannabinoids, extracts, or derivatives from industrial hemp if those substances meet specified requirements, and would prohibit restrictions on the sale of dietary supplements, food, beverages, cosmetics, or pet food that include industrial hemp or cannabinoids, extracts, or derivatives from industrial hemp-based solely on the inclusion of those substances.
Sec. 6. Section 110407 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:
- (a) A manufacturer, distributor, or seller of an industrial hemp product shall not include on the label of the product or publish or disseminate in advertising or marketing, any health-related statement that is untrue in any particular manner as to the health effects of consuming products containing industrial hemp or cannabinoids, extracts, or derivatives from industrial hemp in violation of this part.
Sec. 8. Section 110611 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:
- Except as provided in Section 25621.5 of the Business and Professions Code, a dietary supplement, food, or beverage is not adulterated by the inclusion of industrial hemp, as defined in Section 11018.5, as long as the cannabinoids, extracts, or derivatives from industrial hemp meet the requirements established in Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 111920). The sale of a dietary supplement, food, or beverage that includes industrial hemp or cannabinoids, extracts, or derivatives from industrial hemp shall not be restricted or prohibited based solely on the inclusion of industrial hemp provided that the cannabinoids, extracts, or derivatives from industrial hemp meet the requirements of Chapter 9.
SEC. 9. Section 111691 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:
- A cosmetic is not adulterated because it includes industrial hemp, as defined in Section 11018.5, as long as the cannabinoids, extracts, or derivatives from industrial hemp meet the requirements established in Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 111920). The sale of a cosmetic that includes industrial hemp or cannabinoids, extracts, or derivatives from industrial hemp shall not be restricted or prohibited based solely on the inclusion of industrial hemp provided that the cannabinoids, extracts, or derivatives from industrial hemp meet the requirements established in Chapter 9.
CHAPTER 9. Industrial Hemp
Definitions
(f) “Industrial hemp” has the same meaning as in Section 11018.5. “Industrial hemp” does not include cannabinoids produced through chemical synthesis.
(g) (1) “Industrial hemp product” or “hemp product” means a finished product containing industrial hemp that meets all of the following conditions:
(A) Is a cosmetic, food, food additive, dietary supplement, or herb.
(B) (i) Is for human or animal consumption.
(ii) “Animal” does not include livestock or a food animal as defined in Section 4825.1 of the Business and Professions Code.
(iii) Does not include THC isolate as an ingredient.
2) “Industrial hemp product” does not include industrial hemp or a hemp product that has been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration or a hemp product that includes industrial hemp or hemp that has received Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) designation. For purposes of nonfood applications, “industrial hemp product” does not include a hemp product that contains derivatives, substances, or compounds derived from the seed of industrial hemp.
(i) “Raw extract” or “industrial hemp raw extract” means extract not intended for consumer use and that contains a THC concentration of not more than an amount determined by the department in regulation.
(j) “Raw hemp product” means a product that is derived from industrial hemp that is intended to be included in food, beverage, dietary supplement, or cosmetic.
(l) “THC” or “THC or comparable cannabinoid” means any of the following:
(1) tetrahydrocannabinolic acid.
(2) Any tetrahydrocannabinol, including, but not limited to, Delta-8-tetrahydrocannabinol, Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, and Delta-10-tetrahydrocannabinol, however, derived, except that the department may exclude one or more isomers of tetrahydrocannabinol from this definition under subdivision (a) of Section 111921.7.