Late last week, Georgia’s Department of Agriculture published a Notice of its proposed rules and regulations for implementing SB 494, legislation passed earlier this year to regulate the hemp industry. Written “comments” opposing or supporting the rules may be submitted to the Department until September 6, 2024. The Department will then hold a hearing at 1PM on September 9, 2024.
As we previously covered in our blog, SB 494 will go into effect on October 1, 2024 and, among other things, the new law will impose age restrictions, create rules for advertising and labeling, close the “THCA loophole,” require hemp businesses to apply for licenses, and prohibit the sale of all flower products and food products (except gummies).
The Department of Agriculture’s proposed regulations would impose strict milligram limits on THC-infused hemp products.
The Department’s proposed rules and regulations aim to go even further—in addition to prohibiting the sale of certain products, for example, they have proposed milligram limits for consumable hemp products that contain THC.
The Department’s limits would apply to consumable hemp products “per package” or per “serving size, vaguely defined as “the size or portion customarily consumed per dose.”Under proposed Rule 40-32-5-0.6, the following THC milligram limits would apply:
- Gummies cannot contain more than 10 milligrams of Delta-9-THC “per serving” or more than 150 milligrams of Delta-9-THC “per package.”
- Beverage products cannot contain more than 5 milligrams of Delta-9-THC “per serving nor exceed one single serving per container,” which is limited to 12 ounces.
- Creams and other topical products cannot contain more than 1,000 milligrams of Delta-9-THC “per package.”
- Tinctures cannot contain more than 1 milligram of Delta-9-THC “per serving nor exceed 10 fluid ounces per container,” with a “serving” defined as 2 fluid ounces.
The Department of Agriculture has proposed other regulations mirroring SB 494’s licensing, testing, and packaging requirements, as well as prohibiting the sale of certain consumable hemp products.
Of course, the Department’s proposed rules and regulations do much more than set limits for the amount of THC in consumable hemp products. Implementing the language of SB 494, the proposed regulations create several new definitions for certain kinds of products, such as “tinctures,” “gummies,” “topical applications,” and “food products,” and they set standards for advertising and packaging by defining terms like “attractive to children” and “child resistant packaging.”
Most importantly for the hemp industry, the proposed rules set forth the process for applying for and obtaining licenses for hemp retailers, hemp wholesalers, hemp manufacturers, and hemp growers as required under SB 494. The requirements for each differ. Hemp retailers and manufacturers, for example, must obtain a separate license for each location where they are operating, submit detailed information and records regarding the location of operation, the products they intend to manufacture, and their policies for disposing of non-compliant hemp, among other things.
The proposed regulations also reiterate the new testing requirements under SB 494, which will require having a “full panel certificate of analysis” from the past 12 months for any consumable hemp products that any retailers intend to sell. These “full panel” test results indicate the quantity of certain cannabinoids in a product, including Delta-9, Delta-8, CBD, CBG, Exo-THC, and HHC, and will also reflect whether any products contain pesticides, heavy metals, and other potential contaminants, and the proposed regulations sets out limits for hoy many of these other substances may be present in hemp products for sale.
The Department has also proposed extensive requirements for packaging consumable hemp products. Consumable hemp products containing THC will also have to bear a “warning sticker” that the Department of Agriculture has designed. Packaging must also be child resistant, not attractive to children, and it may not bear a resemblance to any existing food products or infringe on any trademarks or other brands. There are other, specific packaging requirements for tinctures and other resealable containers. The proposed regulations set forth similar restrictions on the advertising of hemp products, generally aimed at preventing advertising that could appeal to children.
Finally, the proposed regulations also create several categories of consumable hemp products which may not be sold in Georgia, including “the flower or leaves of the Cannabis sativa L. plan, regardless of the total delta-9-THC concentration”; products that contain alcohol, marijuana or low THC products, food products, and “any hemp product containing a non-cannabinoid additive that would increase potency, toxicity, or addictive potential…including, but not limited to, nicotine.”
Most violations of these proposed regulations will be civil in nature, including civil penalties, license revocation, disposal of non-compliant products, and other, similar consequences. More serious violations may constitute misdemeanors. In some cases involving the most culpable violators, the Department of Agriculture is required to contact the Attorney General and local U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Supporters and opponents of the proposed regulations, as well as other stakeholders, may submit public comments until September 6, 2024.
Members of the public, not just the hemp industry, can submit comments to the proposed rule until 4:30PM on Friday, September 6, 2024. The rules and comments will be subject to a hearing at 1PM on September 9, 2024, in Room 201 at the Georgia Department of Agriculture, 19 M.L.K. Jr. Drive SW, Atlanta, Georgia.
Written comments must be submitted to:
Bruce Stanford
Georgia Department of Agriculture
19 M.L.K Jr. Drive SW
Atlanta, Georgia 30334
E-mail: hemp@agr.georgia.gov
Our firm continues fighting for small businesses and individuals unfairly targeted for selling hemp and hemp products.
We expect the hemp industry will strongly oppose these proposed limits. And aside from these regulations, we expect some government officials that oppose cannabis will continue unlawfully targeting hemp retailers. The future of hemp in Georgia is thus unclear, but it will likely involve litigation. It certainly would not be the first time the hemp industry has had to file a lawsuit to protect businesses.
