Committee approves amendment and forwards bill to regulate low-THC hemp products, cap retail permits at 9,400

A House committee on [recommitted hearing] voted 9-3 to pass Senate Bill 478 as amended, a bill that would create a state regulatory framework for low-THC hemp products sold in Indiana.

Representative Teschka, sponsor of the measure, told the committee the bill responds to an unregulated market for hemp-derived products that became legal under the 2018 Farm Bill. "These products were made legal through the 2018 Farm Bill," Representative Teschka said, and the bill would make the Alcohol and Tobacco Commission (ATC) the dedicated regulator, license manufacturers, distributors and retailers, and restrict sales to people 21 and older.

The amendment adopted in committee (amendment 28) removes a tax provision that must be handled in House tax legislation, caps the number of retail permits at 9,400, prohibits sales through traditional big-box and grocery stores, and adds enforcement and evidence requirements. The amendment also incorporates recommendations from the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council (IPAC) to list "craft hemp flower" among intoxicants for driving-under-the-influence prosecutions and to swap language about "smokeable hemp" in marijuana…