Industry Advisory
Industrial Hemp Cannot be sold by an ABC Licensee: CA ABC Regulation
Beware: a new industrial hemp regulation will result in ABC license suspensions for the unaware and the uninformed.
In its advisory in October, the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control notified ABC licensees of a new emergency California Department of Public Health regulation on industrial hemp.
Your vendors who want you to sell hemp-infused or other hemp-based products may tell you they are legal to sell where alcohol is being sold. Licensees should be aware, however, that these vendors do not answer to the ABC, and you could be selling products that are illegal and could draw ABC license suspensions under the emergency regulation. You should be aware that the ABC currently has a vigorous enforcement program on this issue and publishes its results when finding industrial hemp in food products on licensed premises’ shelves.
In fact, wandering through various ABC Off-sale licensed premises, I noticed a growing proliferation of products offering THC-infused products. I wondered how that was consistent with the basic principle disallowing broadly defined cannabis products offered, sold, or distributed in ABC licensed premises. Apparently, the State of California came to believe the cannabis prohibitions were not clearly spelled out enough. Hence, we now see new regulations that explicitly prohibit ABC licensees from offering to sell and from selling industrial hemp final form food products.
The ABC advisory states, however, in part:
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has implemented emergency regulations that clearly prohibit the marketing, offering for sale, or sale of industrial hemp products intended for human use (including food, beverages, and dietary supplements) that contain a detectable level of total THC or other intoxicating cannabinoids.
ABC-licensed businesses may not carry, market, offer for sale, or sell any products that do not comply. Doing so will subject the ABC license to administrative disciplinary action. Products that promote or indicate that they contain THC do not comply with the proposed emergency regulation. Licensees must immediately cease the marketing or sale of such products.
The regulation also states that vendors selling industrial hemp products cannot sell to anyone under the age of 21. These regulations spell out in detail what constitutes the industrial hemp product that is prohibited. The definitions include:
- “Detectable” means any amount of analyte, subject to the limit of detection.
- “Limit of detection” means the lowest quantity of a substance or an analyte that can be reliably distinguished from the absence of that substance within a specified confidence limit.
Meaning if the product shows any detectable amount of industrial hemp, the following prohibition generally applies:
A person shall not manufacture, warehouse, distribute, offer, advertise, market, or sell industrial hemp final form food products intended for human consumption including food, food additives, beverages, and dietary supplements that are above the limit of detection for total THC per serving.
The emergency regulations were promulgated and implemented by the California Department of Public Health. However, the CPDH does not regulate alcohol sales. Only the California ABC regulates alcohol sales. Without comment on legally licensed cannabis outlets here, the outright prohibition applies to ABC licensed premises and puts your valuable ABC License at risk of suspension or revocation if you violate this new regulation.
If you have any questions about the applicability of this new Regulation or any aspect of alcohol licensing, regulation, or disciplinary action, feel free to give us a call.
Submitted by
Ralph B. Saltsman
Stephen A. Jamieson
