Update: On Thursday, September 9th, AB-45 was passed by the Assembly. It will now go to the Governor to be signed into law. The authors of the bill, Assemblyworman Aguiar-Curry as well as the Hemp Roundtable and Vote Hemp, did not take into account farmer’s concerns and the majority of legislatures moved the bill forward. The threat that the law will present to California’s industrial hemp industry is huge. Please become familar with the bill through the links below, to understand how the bill will affect your business and farm.
The smokable flower ban was removed but the addition of Section 111921.6. (a) is equally concerning. This reads: “Manufacture or sale of inhalable products is prohibited. Manufacture of inhalable products for the sole purpose of sale in other states is not prohibited.” AND (b) This section shall become inoperative and is repealed on the effective date of a measure passed by the Legislature that establishes a tax on inhalable products and states the intent of the Legislature to fulfill the requirements of this section.” So, in a nutshell it appears as though smokable flower and smokable flower products are not going to be able to be sold in California but will be able to be sold outside of the state, until the legislature passes a bill to tax the product, which is not likely to happen anytime soon.
Click on the “Read the bill” button found at the bottom of the page to read the most recent version of the bill or click on this link to read an abbreviated overview of the amended bill. https://openstates.org/ca/bills/20212022/AB45/
The California Hemp Coalition, an alliance of statewide groups including the Hemp Farmer’s Guild, the California Hemp Association and Ca-Hemp, will continue to represent hemp farmers, businesses and consumers as we move forward in this new climate together.
Thank you for all of your hard work in reaching your representatives and making your voices heard.
Stop AB-45 will remain an active website for a year, to provide a template/tool for others who may be facing similar challenges in their states.
STOP AB-45 