INDUSTRY UPDATES

June 20, 2025

Updates in Seven States: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Louisiana, north Carolina, Ohio, and Texas

Take Action Now: Use our State Action Center to contact lawmakers and protect the future of hemp in your state.

A big thank you to all hemp supporters for taking action to ensure that harmful bills, which would have been detrimental to the hemp industry in their respective states, do not become law! Let’s keep up the fight and momentum moving foward!

Texas

In Texas, SB 3  remains on Governor Abbott’s deskand we need you to take action!  If this bill becomes law it would mean a full ban on hemp products, decimating the hemp industry in Texas. To date, thousands of Hemp Supporter emails have been sent to Governor Abbott asking him to veto the bill.  Please use our State Action Center to add your voice to our urgent request to Governor Abbott for a veto.

Texas Action Center

California

Last week, the California Department of Public Health set out to make permanent its controversial, hemp-killing emergency regulations from last year.  Specifically the agency issued a 45-Day Notice of Proposed Action for Serving Size and Age for Industrial Hemp (DPH-24-005), Initial Statement of Reasons (ISOR), and Informative Digest (all linked below)

While proposed regulations would ensure that all hemp products would be restrict to adults only – a policy that the Roundtable strongly supports – it would make such a restriction moot by banning all hemp products with any detectable THC –- 90-95% of the hemp extract market. As with the emergency regulations, this effort would wreak a devastating blow on California hemp farmers, small businesses and consumers.
 
Fortunately, this regulation must go through a public process, so we strongly encourage you to comment, online or at the public hearing.

Written comments are due July 28.  Please use our portal [link] to send a message to the state.  Please make it personal – let regulators understand what this would do to YOUR business, farm or family.
 
Further, we encourage you to attend the virtual public hearing to make your thoughts known.  It will take place Monday, July 28, 2025 from 10:00 A.M to 12:00 P.M PDT at this link.

California Action Center
DPH-24-005 Public Notice 6.12.25
IH Informative Digest 6.12.25
IH-ISOR-6.12.25

Connecticut

Connecticut’s HB 6855 is now awaiting Governor Lamont’s signature.  The bill allows for the sale of hemp flower and expands the entities to which cannabis establishments can sell or transfer products and removes location restrictions for equity joint ventures.  Thank you for showing your support of this commonsense legislation to lawmakers.

Delaware

Great news in Delaware:  HB 98 has been withdrawn from consideration.  The bill would have made changes to Delaware law to prohibit sales of hemp beverages outside of package stores. Also, direct-to-consumer sales would have been banned, and non-beverage consumable hemp products would be classified as marijuana, resulting in a retail ban on gummies and tinctures. Big kudos go to the outstanding advocacy of Jena Murray, Wilmington resident and US Hemp Roundtable President. You can read more about the bill and its withdrawal here.

Louisiana

In Louisiana, major progress has been made on HB 12 and HB 36, which originally would have been devastating for the industry. HB 12 included language that would have criminalized manufacturers if even minor milligram variances were found—potentially landing people in jail for being slightly under or over. Through amendments, we were able to strip out that language. It’s not perfect, but now the only remaining criminal penalty applies to a retailer who knowingly sells to a minor without checking ID. That’s a major shift and a much more reasonable enforcement standard.  HB 36 is civil in nature. While there are still concerns, both bills are in a much better place than where they started.

Attention now shifts to the Louisiana Department of Health and the 25-page emergency rule they quietly adopted and implemented without any meaningful public notice or input. Our next step is going to be a major push to challenge and revise that rule.  Stay tuned for how you can help influence regulators.

North Carolina

Tarheels – we need your help in North Carolina. HB 328 threatens the state’s hemp industry, by potentially banning most CBD products and imposing enormous license fees for the hemp businesses. HB 328 also includes 21+ age restrictions and limits products to 10 mg of delta-9 THC per serving. Please use our State Action Center to add your voice to our request to lawmakers to oppose the current form of HB 328.

North Carolina Action Center

Ohio

SB 56, which as currently written, will require nearly all hemp products be sold in marijuana dispensaries.  Any product over .5 mg THC per serving or 2 mg total THC would have to be sold at the dispensaries.  Under the bill, hemp beverages with less than .42 mg THC per ounce could be sold at retail locations permitted to sell beer and wine, but restaurants could only sell them for take-out. The proposed language in the bill would prohibit consumption at all retail locations, including bars and restaurants. Please use our State Action Center to add your voice to our request to lawmakers to oppose the current form of SB 56.

Ohio Action Center

Texas

In Texas, SB 3  remains on Governor Abbott’s desk and we need you to take action!  If this bill becomes law it would mean a full ban on hemp products, decimating the hemp industry in Texas. To date, thousands of Hemp Supporter emails have been sent to Governor Abbott asking him to veto the bill.  Please use our State Action Center to add your voice to our urgent request to Governor Abbott for a veto.

Texas Action Center

Visit our State Action Center to see active campaigns across the country!

State Action Center

Check out the latest hemp and CBD updates from across the states!