Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall on Friday answered a key question about the state’s controversial new law on consumable products that contain ingredients from hemp.
It will be illegal to sell or possess smokable hemp products starting July 1, according to William Califf, a spokesman for Marshall.
Possession or sale could subject individuals to a Class C felony, punishable by one to 10 years in prison.
It was already known that the smokable products would be banned – that was clear in the new law.
But companies that sell the products told AL.com they were unsure when the products banned by the new law would become illegal.
The confusion was the result of two dates in the new law, known as HB445, which the Legislature passed and Gov. Kay Ivey signed in May.
The last line of the 25-page bill that the effective date is July 1.
But other sections of the bill carry a Jan. 1, 2026, effective date.
Store owners said the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, which will regulate the products under the new law, had not provided a clear answer on which date applied to the product bans.
They said they needed a definite date to make decisions about how to proceed with their business and whether they could continue to sell the smokables until the end of the year.
The ABC Board said Friday morning it was consulting with the attorney general’s office.
An email from Califf on Friday afternoon — hours after AL.com reported on the concerns of businessowners — provided the answer on the banned smokable products.
“The criminal prohibition on the sale or possession of hemp products specifically excluded from the definition of ‘consumable hemp product’ goes into effect July 1, 2025,” Califf wrote.
Products specifically excluded from the definition, found on page 3 of the bill, include any smokable hemp product.
“Smokable hemp products include, but are not limited to, any plant product or raw hemp material that is marketed to consumers as hemp cigarettes, hemp cigars, hemp joints, hemp buds, hemp flowers, hemp leaves, ground hemp flowers, or any variation of these terms to include any product that contains a cannabinoid, whether psychoactive or not,” the new law says.
Hemp business operators say the smokable flowers are their number one seller.
“Once this is gone, that’s about 75% of my sales will be wiped out,” Troy Watts, who works in the Green Room store in Montgomery, told al.com on Thursday.
In addition to the smokable products, one other category is specifically excluded from the definition of consumable hemp products in the bill and therefore illegal to sell or possess starting July 1.
“Any product that contains psychoactive cannabinoids that are created by a chemical synthesis, modification, or chemical conversion from another cannabinoid, utilizing non-cannabis materials,” the bill says, and adds some exceptions to that.
AL.com will try to get more information on what products that exclusion would ban effective July 1.
HB445 will tax, regulate, and restrict the sales of gummies, drinks, and other consumable products containing the chemical THC that is derived from hemp, a form of cannabis. THC is the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.
The sponsor of the bill, Rep. Andy Whitt, R-Harvest, said it is a compromise measure that will provide needed regulations for products that are widely available in specialty shops selling products containing THC and CBD derived from hemp, as well as in convenience stores and online.
Business owners and advocates said they were not opposed to regulation but said the bill was an overreach that would deprive adult customers of products they depend on to relieve pain, anxiety, sleeplessness and other problems.
This story will be updated.
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