Auburn council adopts ordinance regulating consumable hemp products and clears local approvals for Veil and J's

The Auburn City Council on March 17 adopted a new ordinance adding chapter 24 to the City Code to regulate consumable hemp products and approved local approvals tied to the ordinance for a specialty retailer at 1452 Opelika Road.

The ordinance establishes distance restrictions and local penalties for violations and is intended to complement state law. The City Attorney told the council that Alabama enacted HB 445 last year to regulate hemp-derived THC products and that federal law (the 2018 Farm Bill) and recently enacted federal appropriations language create a changing legal window: "So as we sit here today, we're in this window between 01/01/2026 when the state law became in effect, and the 2018 Farm Bill," the City Attorney said, explaining that a federal provision scheduled for November 2026 could further lower allowable THC limits and that the state law contemplates such…