Jim Higdon is the co-founder of Cornbread Hemp, a Kentucky-based company that sells hemp-based CBD products across the country. Higdon is also a member of the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, an advocacy group focused on “science-driven, equitable, and inclusive law and regulation” for the hemp and CBD industry.
APR recently spoke with Higdon to learn more about the effects that HB445 — the controversial legislation recently signed into law by Gov. Kay Ivey, which severely restricts access to THC-A and other hemp-derived products across the state — will have on Alabama businesses.
Among other things, HB445 bans smokable hemp, places a 10mg THC cap on edibles and hemp beverages, bans direct-to-consumer online sales and deliveries, and imposes a 10 percent excise tax and $1,000 licensing fee on retailers. Convenience stores and gas stations are also barred from selling hemp products under the law. Business owners who fail to comply with the law’s provisions could face up to 10 years in prison.
Critics of the law have lambasted it as a case of governmental overreach, which could shutter small businesses across the state and harm consumers. Higdon echoed many of those same critiques and emphasized how hemp and CBD products are now facing stricter regulations in the state than alcohol.
“[The law’s] ‘attractive to children’ standard includes fruit images on the can [of hemp beverages] which is arbitrary and capricious and would not apply to a beer can with hops on the front or a wine bottle with grapes on the label,” Higdon noted. “And so it’s frustrating to see us being treated differently and more strictly than alcohol… in that manner.”
“The direct-to-consumer piece of this is very frustrating and could be unconstitutional… retailers are kind of paralyzed as to what’s next,” he added.
Under HB445, retailers cannot sell hemp-based products for on-premises consumption, or can they offer tastings for customers purchasing consumable hemp products. Additionally, “online sales, direct delivery, drive-through sales, and direct shipment” of hemp products are banned — a provision which directly inhibits the ability of companies like Cornbread Hemp to conduct business in the state.
“We have thousands of direct-to-consumer customers in Alabama, and we don’t know exactly what this means for our relationship with customers who are depending on our products on a regular basis… if this bill takes effect the way that it is written, it could immediately impact our ability to serve customers who rely on our products,” Higdon said.
Higdon’s questions concerning the constitutionality of HB445 stem from the state legislature’s attempt to regulate the sale of hemp products in the same manner as alcohol. The 21st Amendment explicitly gives each state the right to make its own independent liquor laws which cannot be violated through interstate commerce. However, no such statute exists regarding hemp products, raising questions about Alabama’s legal authority to outlaw the importation of such products from another state.
Even when setting questions of legality aside, Higdon emphasized the hypocrisy he sees in the standards placed on hemp products in Alabama when compared to those placed on alcohol.
“There’s a potency cap at 10mg of THC. There’s no potency cap on beer or liquor or wine, to my knowledge, in Alabama,” Higdon said.
“Beer and wine are available at convenience stores, those convenience store clerks are perfectly able to ID check for beer and wine at checkout… there’s no reason why they can’t sell hemp beverages in the same manner,” he continued. “And Alabama allows direct-to-consumer wine sales from out of state but not out-of-state direct-to-consumer hemp sales.”
Given these harsh restrictions, Higdon believes that HB445 will seriously harm small business owners and the hemp industry writ-large in Alabama.
“It’s definitely going to negatively impact independently-owned entrepreneurial hemp shops,” Higdon said.
“A lot of those hemp retailers that are trying to do the right thing are going to pay the penalty for an over-broad bill, and they’re going to go out of business,” he added. “We’re going to have a lot of people in Alabama who have made a living thinking they were doing the right thing, with a product that’s legal under federal law, but now Alabama says they can’t sell, [go out of business].”
Beyond HB445’s provisions, Higdon also criticized the process by which Republicans in the state legislature forced the bill through in the final moments of the 2025 legislative session.
“Significant changes were made to this bill at the very last minute and provided no opportunity for public comment or feedback,” Higdon said. “Definitely some changes made at the last minute intentionally in the Senate that are problematic and frustrating. I’m no stranger to parliamentary tricks, but it just means that the bill’s sponsors realized that they didn’t have public opinion on their side to get what they wanted, so they had to resort to last-minute chicanery.”
However, Higdon did also highlight some silver linings in HB445, saying that “it could have been worse.”
“In Kentucky, they capped us at 5mg per can, and Alabama has given us 10mg per can… so that is a positive. They’ve also opened up grocery as a potential retailer for this product, and that’s positive,” Higdon noted.
As for the future, Higdon believes that HB445 is not the end of the fight over hemp regulation in Alabama. Higdon told APR that the U.S. Hemp Roundtable will be lobbying at interim committee meetings before the start of next year’s legislative session to make sure the issue does not “drop off the radar.”
“That’s going to be a point of emphasis for us to make sure that our customers and other stakeholders, including legislators, understand that this issue is not going away, and that HB445 was an imperfect attempt at codifying a solution to this problem. And we’re going to be back to make sure they do a better job next session,” he said.
Alabama’s new law severely restricts hemp and CBD products, banning smokable hemp, capping THC, and prohibiting online sales, impacting businesses statewide. Read More
