Senate committee hears AB 8 to reclassify intoxicating hemp as cannabis, expand enforcement

Assemblymember Agar Curry (author) told the Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee on July 7 that AB 8 would expand enforcement against illegal intoxicating hemp products, ban synthetic cannabinoids and fold intoxicating hemp into the state cannabis supply chain so those products are fully registered, regulated and subject to the cannabis excise tax.

The bill’s author said the measure builds on her prior 2021 law (AB 45) that aimed to legalize non‑intoxicating hemp products. She told the committee that recent market developments have produced “highly intoxicating hemp products sold outside of dispensaries without age limits,” and said AB 8 would give state and local agencies additional authority to inspect, seize and destroy unlawful hemp products and require out‑of‑state manufacturers to register…