California businesses in near-universal compliance with prohibition of intoxicating hemp products harmful to youth
What you need to know: Businesses are nearly universally compliant with California’s regulations banning the sale of intoxicating hemp products.
Sacramento, California – Today, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that businesses statewide continue to follow the state’s rules that prohibit the sale of hemp products that contain intoxicating cannabinoids.
So far in 2025, the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) has seen 99.7% compliance among business licensees this year. Since September 2024, ABC agents have visited 11,445 businesses and removed 7,151 illegal products from shelves at 148 locations. On September 6, 2024, Governor Newsom announced emergency regulations to protect Californians, especially youth, from the adverse health effects of dangerous hemp products.
We are doing our part to ensure intoxicating hemp products are out of the reach of vulnerable groups like children. We must always put the safety of Californians first.
Governor Gavin Newsom
Adopted by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), the emergency regulations prohibit the marketing, offering for sale, or selling of industrial hemp food, beverages, and dietary products that contain THC or other intoxicating cannabinoids.
“Our licensees have overwhelmingly complied with the regulation,” said ABC Chief Deputy Director Frank Robles. “On the few occasions when ABC agents found items during inspections, they’ve ensured these harmful products are removed from shelves.”
The regulations also ban sales to people under 21. Businesses that fail to follow the law face various consequences, including criminal penalties and loss of license. ABC will continue to visit licensed locations throughout the state to enforce the new regulations and ensure illegal products are not being sold. To track progress, visit the weekly hemp enforcement update.
In October, a court rejected a legal move to stop enforcement of California’s emergency regulations banning THC-containing hemp products that harm the public, especially children.
Why this matters
California became the first state to allow medicinal cannabis use when voters passed the Compassionate Use Act in 1996, and then in 2016, voters legalized the recreational use of cannabis. California’s cannabis regulatory framework requires that businesses operate safely, that products are labeled and tested to protect consumers from contaminants, and that children are prevented from accessing cannabis products. Hemp manufacturers have been exploiting the law to produce and market hemp products that contain THC without the safeguards in place for similar cannabis products. Intoxicating hemp products have been made available at major and small retailers and marketed for their intoxicating THC properties. These regulations ban these sales.
State regulators, including ABC, CDPH, the Department of Cannabis Control, the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, and state and local law enforcement officials, enforce these requirements.