Alabama businesses upset over signing of hemp bill

'It will destroy the hemp industry ': Birmingham businesses upset over signing of hemp bill

IT WILL TAKE EFFECT ON OCTOBER 1ST. GOVERNOR IVEY HAS BEEN BUSY, TOO, SIGNING SEVERAL BILLS INTO LAW. ONE OF THEM, THE CONTROVERSIAL HOUSE BILL 445 THAT PUTS SOME MAJOR REGULATIONS ON THE HEMP AND THC INDUSTRY IN OUR STATE. �� 13 JARVIS ROBERTSON HAS BEEN FOLLOWING THIS BILL CLOSELY FOR US. JARVIS, YOU HEARD FROM ONE BUSINESS OWNER DIRECTLY AFFECTED BY THE NEW LAW. WELL, GUYS, THIS NEW LAW IS NOT SITTING WELL WITH HEMP INDUSTRY WORKERS. IT’S GOING TO FORCE BUSINESSES TO RETHINK HOW THEY DO BUSINESS. IT’S REALLY HARD TO IMAGINE AND. IT’S I MEAN, IT’S DEVASTATING. JENNY OTWELL IS THE OWNER OF MAGIC CITY ORGANICS. HER BUSINESS SPECIALIZES IN HEMP PRODUCTS. WHETHER IT’S FOR PAIN RELIEF, SLEEP AID OR JUST FOR FUN, SHE BELIEVES THERE’S A REASON FOR WHAT THEY DO. THERE’S A REASON WHY WE’VE HAD RHEUMATOLOGISTS AND ONCOLOGY DOCTORS AND, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE FROM EVERY END OF THE OF THE MEDICAL SIDE SENDING PEOPLE TO US FOR YEARS NOW, THE BUSINESS THAT SHE’S OWNED FOR SEVEN YEARS WILL BE TRANSFORMED BECAUSE OF HB 445, WHICH GOVERNOR KAY IVEY SIGNED WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. WE WILL BE MOVING OUR OPERATIONS OVER STATE LINES. WE ALREADY HAVE A FACILITY IN MIND SO WE CAN CONTINUE TO SERVE OUR CUSTOMERS. THE LAW RESTRICTS THE SALE OF HEMP PRODUCTS TO PEOPLE 21 AND OLDER. STORES THAT DO SELL WILL BE REQUIRED TO OBTAIN A LICENSE WITH THE ABC BOARD. THE PRODUCTS WILL ONLY BE ALLOWED TO HAVE TEN MILLIGRAMS OR LESS. HB 445 ONLY ALLOWS EDIBLES AND DRINKS. TEN MILLIGRAMS IS JUST A LITTLE LIGHT. NOW IF YOU WANTED TO REGULATE MORE, WHAT GOES INTO THESE THINGS? TYLER BYERS VISITS AVONDALE APOTHECARY EVERY COUPLE OF WEEKS. HE DOESN’T AGREE WITH THE NEW LEGISLATION, BUT SAYS THERE’S A BETTER WAY TO HANDLE IT. HIS USE IS RECREATIONAL. IF YOU WANTED TO REGULATE MORE, WHAT GOES INTO THESE AND PREVENT THESE OUTRAGEOUS, YOU KNOW, OH, HERE’S A 500 MILLIGRAM GUMMY. I’M ALL FOR THAT. WHILE THERE’S STILL TIME TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOUR FAVORITE PRODUCTS NOW AT A LOCAL HEMP SHOP, OTWELL FEELS THE NEW LAW WILL HAVE NEGATIVE EFFECTS. I FEEL LIKE THIS IS JUST GOING TO FUEL THE BLACK MARKET. IT’S GOING TO BE A HUGE RIPPLE EFFECT OF PEOPLE SUFFERING ACROSS ACROSS THE WHOLE STATE, REALLY. IT’S VERY SAD. NOW, THE LAW DOESN’T TAKE EFFECT UNTIL JULY 1ST, A LITTLE OVER TWO MONTHS FROM NOW. BUSINESSES WILL HAVE TO B

'It will destroy the hemp industry ': Birmingham businesses upset over signing of hemp bill

The signing of the bill that will regulate hemp products will place local businesses that rely on those sales in jeopardy.Gov. Kay Ivey signed HB 445 on Wednesday evening. It authorizes the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board to regulate all hemp products, including delta-8, delta-9 and delta-10, through the licensure of manufacturers, wholesale distributors and retailers, including grocery stores under certain conditions.The bill bans the sale of smokable hemp products and synthetic cannabinoids, allowing only edibles/beverages limited to 10 mg of THC per serving. Retailers hoping to sell hemp products would need to pass a criminal background check and obtain a license from the ABC Board with an annual fee of $1,000. They would face steep penalties for any violations. "Also outlawed within this bill are the smokables, the inhalables; such as your vapes that had THC, your buds, your flowers," said Rep. Andy Whitt, the bill's sponsor. Online sales would be prohibited, as well as on-premises consumption, placing local businesses like the Avondale Apothecary in jeopardy. "I feel that it will destroy the hemp industry here in Alabama," said Joe Resha, CEO of the Apothecary dispensary. "The only thing we’ll be able to sell will be ten-milligram drinks, ten-milligram edibles that are individually packaged; everything will have to go. There will be no more on-site consumption, there’ll be no more deliveries, no more e-commerce." Resha says 90 percent of his business will be affected. "We put our hearts and souls into building this safe place for our community here: getting people off the black market where they are able to get tested products; they know exactly what they’re getting here versus going on the black market," he said.>> FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL: Facebook | X | Instagram | YouTube Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin urged Gov. Ivey to veto the bill, saying that it would drag the state back to "an era of cannabis criminalization, overregulation, and lost opportunity." "By limiting access to legal hemp products, burdening small businesses with excessive restrictions, and imposing punitive taxes, this bill doesn’t just regulate �� it criminalizes," Woodfin said. "It locks out entrepreneurs, particularly Black and brown business owners who are often first to be policed and last to get licensed. It creates barriers where we should be building bridges �� to opportunity, to equity, and to public health solutions that actually work. Alabama should be investing in the future of this industry �� not regulating it into irrelevance." The new regulation will also affect those who use hemp products for medicinal purposes. "There’s a reason why we’ve had rheumatologists and oncology doctors; people from every end of the medical side sending people to us for years now," said Jenni Otwell, founder and CEO of Magic City Organics.The bill will take effect on July 1, 2025. Businesses must be fully compliant by Jan. 1, 2026. Stay updated on the latest political stories with the �� 13 app. You can download it here.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. —

The signing of the bill that will regulate hemp products will place local businesses that rely on those sales in jeopardy.

Gov. Kay Ivey signed on Wednesday evening. It authorizes the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board to regulate all hemp products, including delta-8, delta-9 and delta-10, through the licensure of manufacturers, wholesale distributors and retailers, including grocery stores under certain conditions.

The bill bans the sale of smokable hemp products and synthetic cannabinoids, allowing only edibles/beverages limited to 10 mg of THC per serving.

Retailers hoping to sell hemp products would need to pass a criminal background check and obtain a license from the ABC Board with an annual fee of $1,000. They would face steep penalties for any violations.

"Also outlawed within this bill are the smokables, the inhalables; such as your vapes that had THC, your buds, your flowers," said Rep. Andy Whitt, the bill's sponsor.

Online sales would be prohibited, as well as on-premises consumption, placing local businesses like the Avondale Apothecary in jeopardy.

"I feel that it will destroy the hemp industry here in Alabama," said Joe Resha, CEO of the Apothecary dispensary. "The only thing we’ll be able to sell will be ten-milligram drinks, ten-milligram edibles that are individually packaged; everything will have to go. There will be no more on-site consumption, there’ll be no more deliveries, no more e-commerce."

Resha says 90 percent of his business will be affected.

"We put our hearts and souls into building this safe place for our community here: getting people off the black market where they are able to get tested products; they know exactly what they’re getting here versus going on the black market," he said.

>> FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL: | | |

Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin urged Gov. Ivey to veto the bill, saying that it would drag the state back to "an era of cannabis criminalization, overregulation, and lost opportunity."

"By limiting access to legal hemp products, burdening small businesses with excessive restrictions, and imposing punitive taxes, this bill doesn’t just regulate �� it criminalizes," Woodfin said. "It locks out entrepreneurs, particularly Black and brown business owners who are often first to be policed and last to get licensed. It creates barriers where we should be building bridges �� to opportunity, to equity, and to public health solutions that actually work. Alabama should be investing in the future of this industry �� not regulating it into irrelevance."

The new regulation will also affect those who use hemp products for medicinal purposes.

"There’s a reason why we’ve had rheumatologists and oncology doctors; people from every end of the medical side sending people to us for years now," said Jenni Otwell, founder and CEO of Magic City Organics.

The bill will take effect on July 1, 2025. Businesses must be fully compliant by Jan. 1, 2026.

Stay updated on the latest political stories with the �� 13 app. You can download it here.

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'It will destroy the hemp industry ': Birmingham businesses upset over signing of hemp bill

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