Emergency Hemp Regulations to Be Readopted

by Omar Figueroa & Lauren Mendelsohn

March 10, 2025

We previously wrote about Governor Gavin Newsom and the California Department of Public Health’s announcement of emergency regulations banning hemp products with any detectable amount of total THC and the subsequent approval of those regulations.

We also wrote about a hemp industry group’s unsuccessful application to a Los Angeles judge for a temporary restraining order to stop implementation of the emergency regulations.  Thus, the emergency hemp regulations are currently in effect.

The emergency hemp regulations are valid for 180 days, and are due to expire at the end of March unless readopted.

The California Department of Public Health has now announced its intent to readopt the emergency hemp regulations.  You can read the announcement below and download it here.

 

DPH-24-005E_Readopt_Notice

 

The text of the proposed readopted emergency hemp regulations can be read below and downloaded here.

 

DPH-24-005E_Readopt_Text

 

The Finding of Emergency is quite illuminating because it contains an Informative Digest and Policy Statement Overview which can be read below and downloaded here.

 

DPH-24-005E_Readopt_FOE

 

The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) has been enforcing the emergency hemp regulations against its licensees and has been releasing weekly statistics of its hemp enforcement actions on this page.  Notably, as of the writing of this blog post, there have been a total of 9,251 location visits conducted by ABC which have identified 141 violations and resulted in the seizure of 7,007 products.

These ABC enforcement stats are limited to businesses licensed by ABC and show that compliance by licensees has improved significantly.  However, ABC licensees are only the “tip of the iceberg” when it comes to the THC hemp market, and other market participants with less oversight from state regulators may exhibit different levels of compliance.

The announcement that the emergency hemp regulations will be readopted seems intended to help stabilize the cannabis industry by preventing products containing THC from being sold by businesses that are not licensed cannabis retailers.

This is a developing story; stay tuned for updates.