Alabama businesses that sell smokables, gummies, beverages, and other products containing THC from hemp are waiting to learn when some of their best selling products will become illegal.
Businessowners say they have not gotten clear answers from the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, which will enforce the new law signed by Gov. Kay Ivey in May.
“We have products we have to sell. We have bills we have to pay, taxes we have to pay, rent we have to cover,” said Jennifer Boozer, owner of CannaBama a store in Mobile.
“It’s utter chaos. And none of us can make any decisions at all about anything,” Boozer said.
In May, the Legislature approved HB445 by Rep. Andy Whitt, R-Harvest, after lawmakers heard pros and cons during public hearings that drew overflow crowds.
Hemp business owners said they are not opposed to more regulation but said the bill was an overreach for products they say are safer than tobacco and alcohol.
Others said the bill was too weak and wanted an outright ban on the products, which they say market THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, by exploiting a loophole in the federal law that legalized hemp.
HB445 puts the hemp-derived products and retailers under regulation by the ABC Board, imposing a 10% tax, banning some items, and setting up new requirements for packaging, labeling, and testing, as well as civil and criminal penalties for violations.
The most immediate concern for the sellers and their customers is when the changes occur.
The last line of the 25-page bill says it takes effect July 1, 2025.
But sections of the bill carry a Jan. 1, 2026 effective date.
What does the ABC Board say?
Boozer and other hemp product shop owners need to know because best sellers – smokable flowers and high-potency gummies – will be banned.
“If it’s January the 1st of 2026, some of them will stay in business until then just to try to hang on. But it’s the not knowing that’s causing the most anxiety,“ said Marty Schelper, founder and president of the Alabama Cannabis Coalition.
“They fought so hard to try to keep their industry intact. But the slap in the face is not knowing what the definition of those two dates are.”
Daniel Dye, a spokesman for the ABC Board, said the board will issue notices as rules and licensing requirements are developed.
The new law comes as the ABC Board is also setting up regulations for nicotine vape products under another bill, HB8, which took effect June 1.
“These require new licenses to be developed, fees to be assessed, rules and regulations to be developed and implemented, and enforcement strategies to be developed and disseminated,” Dye said in an email.
As for the specific date of the ban on smokable hemp and other restrictions imposed by HB445, Dye said he would provide the information when he receives it from the ABC Board’s Licensing and Compliance Division.
Dye also wrote: “Note that the laws are in effect as of its effective dates regardless of ABC making any notifications to licensees.”
Schelper said the answers have been vague and the businesses need clarification in writing.
“They don’t know which way to go because they haven’t gotten any definitive information from the ABC Board,” Schelper said.
“Let’s say they found out that they were going to be able to stay open until December 31st of 2025. They would be contacting their wholesalers to order more product for their stores.
“But they don’t want to place orders for any products that they’re going to end up having illegal products.”
‘You can kill the whole industry’
At the Green Room Dispensary in Montgomery, Troy Watts says the smokable hemp flower is the most popular product with customers.
“Once this is gone, that’s about 75% of my sales will be wiped out,” said Watts, who has worked in the store for about four years.
Watts said the Green Room was already restricting entrance to customers 21 and older, as indicated by a sign at the door. That’s a requirement in the new law.
“We welcome regulation, just not as much regulation,” Watts said. “They’re at the point where you can kill the whole industry.
“Most of the things that they’re asking us to do, we do already.”
The Green Room sells gummies, cannabis cigarettes, and beverages containing THC derived from hemp, as well as products with CBD, a non-psychoactive ingredient in hemp.
THC is the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana and is found in hemp, another version of cannabis, but in much lower concentrations.
Hemp is legal under federal and state law if the level of THC does not exceed 0.3%, a fraction of the potency of marijuana.
The Green Room carries gummies with a range of potency up to 725 milligrams of THC per gummy. The new law sets the limit at 10 milligrams per gummy.
The Green Room offers 10-milligram gummies in a bottle of 20. But the new law says gummies must be individually wrapped and sold in cartons with no more than 40 total milligrams, or four gummies.
Boozer, the owner of CannaBama in Mobile, said the 100-milligram gummies are the most popular. Boozer said the new limit of 10 milligrams and four to a pack is not practical for manufacturers, retailers, or customers.
“If I take 100 milligrams of THC for my pain at night so that I can also sleep, I would have to eat 10 individually wrapped gummies,” Boozer said.
“That price is going to go way up because not one single manufacturer in this country makes a single gummy individually wrapped in a four-pack.”
‘I don’t know what to tell them’
Proponents of the new law said they wanted to crack down on use by minors for unregulated products widely available in stores and online.
Business owners said that can be done without depriving adults of the products for adults, including many who they say use them for pain, anxiety, and sleeplessness.
They say the hemp-derived products are an alternative to pharmaceutical drugs that can be addictive and have side effects.
That’s particularly important in Alabama, they say, where the medical cannabis industry authorized by the Legislature four years ago remains stalled, with no products available, because of licensing disputes.
Watts said his customers are a mix of new walk-ups and regulars. Many are looking for relief from pain or help sleeping, he said.
“Amazingly, it’s very, very few people that come in and the first thing they say is I want to get something that will get me really high,” Watts said.
“That’s not always the first thing. It happens, but not as often as someone would think.”
Boozer and Watts say business has declined because customers have heard about the new law, which the governor signed on May 14, even though it has not taken effect.
Watts said customers are asking questions about when to expect changes.
“I don’t know what to tell them,” Watts said. “I don’t know whether to tell them January 1st or July 1st. I have no clue. So I usually just say just to be careful, July the 1st.”
Businessowners say they have not gotten clear answers from the Alabama ABC Board. Read More
