ASSEMBLY HEALTH COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
ASSEMBLY, No. 4461
with committee amendments
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: JUNE 17, 2024
The Assembly Health Committee reports favorably and with
committee amendments Assembly Bill No. 4461.
As amended, this bill regulates the production and sale of
intoxicating hemp products.
AGENCY RESPONSIBILITIES
Under current law, three entities within the State maintain
jurisdiction over the cannabis plant. The Cannabis Regulatory
Commission (commission) regulates adult-use and medical
cannabis, the Department of Agriculture (department) regulates
hemp, and the Attorney General (AG) enforces criminal penalties
against illegal marijuana and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
The bill synchronizes the definitions of hemp, hemp products,
and definitions involving total THC concentration in order to
regulate the sale of intoxicating hemp products as a form of
cannabis item. By means of updating definitions, and adding a
definition of intoxicating hemp products, the bill clarifies the role of
each agency. The commission would be responsible for regulating
the sale of all legally produced intoxicating cannabis items, whether
hemp or cannabis; the department would continue to regulate the
cultivation and processing of hemp as an agricultural commodity;
and the AG would maintain the jurisdiction over illegally produced
marijuana and THC, including any businesses or individuals who
fail to sell cannabis items through a licensed retailer.
LICENSING AND COMPLIANCE RELATED TO INTOXICATING HEMP
By amending the definition of “cannabis item” to include an
intoxicating hemp product, the commission is required, pursuant to
section 18 of P.L.2021, c.16 (C.24:6I-35), to promulgate regulations
related to the sale and purchase of such intoxicating products as a
form of cannabis item. Further, pursuant to section 25 of P.L.2021,
c.16 (C.24:6I-42), an entity is required to be licensed as a Class 5
Cannabis Retailer in order to operate a business in which any
intoxicating products are retailed, and would be limited to selling
products to persons 21 years of age or older. Additionally, treating 2
such products like cannabis items would subject them to cannabis
item product testing and labeling requirements.
“Intoxicating hemp product” is defined as “any product
cultivated, derived, or manufactured from hemp regulated pursuant
to the ‘Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018,’ Pub.L.115-334 or
the ‘New Jersey Hemp Farming Act,’ P.L.2019, c.238 (C.4:28-6 et
al.) that is sold in this State that has a concentration of total THC
greater than 0.5 milligrams per serving or 2.5 milligrams per
package.” “Intoxicating hemp product” does not include “a
cannabinoid product that is not derived from naturally occurring
biologically active chemical constituents and shall not include hemp
products as defined” under the “New Jersey Hemp Farming Act,”
P.L.2019, c.238 (C.4:28-6 et al.), as amended by the bill to
synchronize with this new definition for intoxicating hemp.
UNLICENSED SALE AND PENALTIES REGARDING INTOXICATING
PRODUCTS
Under the bill, a person would be prohibited from selling or
distributing an intoxicating hemp product unless the person is
licensed by the commission and the product complies with the
“Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace
Modernization Act” (CREAMMA), P.L.2021, c.16 (C.24:6I-31 et
al.), and any commission regulations. Further, it would be
unlawful to sell or distribute a hemp product or cannabis item that is
not derived from naturally occurring biologically active chemical
constituents.
It would be unlawful, except as otherwise provided by law, to
sell or distribute a product that contains THC in any detectable
amount to any person under the age of 21 years.
The bill establishes that for the above prohibited or unlawful
acts, any civil penalties or fines adopted by the commission in
accordance with CREAMMA shall apply to commission-licensed
business committing any such prohibited or unlawful acts, in
addition to any other penalty provided by law.
Also, any person who sells, offers for sale, or distributes any
intoxicating hemp product, or hemp product or cannabis item not
derived from naturally occurring biologically active chemical
constituents, would be subject to the following penalties:
(1) for a first violation, a civil penalty of not less than $100;
(2) for a second violation, a civil penalty of not less than
$1,000; and
(3) for a third or subsequent penalty, a civil penalty of not less
than $10,000.
This penalty would be collected and enforced by summary
proceedings under the “Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999,” P.L.1999,
c.274 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.). 3
REGULATION OF HEMP AND NON-INTOXICATING HEMP PRODUCTS,
AND MANUFACTURED THC
The bill amends the “New Jersey Hemp Farming Act,” P.L.2019,
c.238 (C.4:28-6 et al.), to set limits on the amount of THC that can
be sold in hemp or (non-intoxicating) hemp products. This limit is
set at a total THC concentration of not more than 0.3 percent on a
dry weight basis and additionally, for a hemp product, not more
than 0.5 milligrams of total THC per serving, and 2.5 milligrams of
total THC per package. “Total THC” is defined as “the total
concentration of all tetrahydrocannabinols in hemp or a hemp
product, including delta-8, delta-9, delta-10, tetrahydrocannabinolic
acid and any other chemically similar compound, substance,
derivative, or isomer of tetrahydrocannabinol, regardless of how
derived or manufactured, and any other cannabinoid, other than
cannabidiol, identified by the Cannabis Regulatory Commission, in
consultation with the Department of Agriculture and the Attorney
General, as causing intoxication.” This definitional change clarifies
the department’s role in the regulation of hemp, and limits it to
hemp or hemp products that meet the limitations established in the
bill.
The bill also clarifies the definition of THC in the Schedule I
controlled dangerous substance statute, section 5 of P.L.1970, c.226
(C.24:21-5), to ensure THC produced by way of manufacture, and
which is not produced or sold in accordance with the “New Jersey
Hemp Farming Act,” P.L.2019, c.238 (C.4:28-6 et al.), or
CREAMMA, P.L.2021, c.16 (C.24:6I-31 et al.) is included on the
Schedule I list. Section 2 of P.L.1970, c.226 (C.24:21-2) defines
“manufacture” to mean “the production, preparation, propagation,
compounding, conversion, or processing of a controlled dangerous
substance, either directly or by extraction from substances of
natural origin, or independently by means of chemical synthesis, or
by a combination of extraction and chemical synthesis, and includes
any packaging or repackaging of the substance or labeling or
relabeling of its container, except that this term does not include the
preparation or compounding of a controlled dangerous substance by
an individual for the individual's own use or the preparation,
compounding, packaging, or labeling of a controlled dangerous
substance: (1) by a practitioner as an incident to the practitioner's
administering or dispensing of a controlled dangerous substance in
the course of the practitioner's professional practice, or (2) by a
practitioner, or under the practitioner's supervision, for the purpose
of, or as an incident to, research, teaching, or chemical analysis and
not for sale.”
ENFORCEMENT AND EDUCATION
Finally, the bill requires the commission, in consultation with the
Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public 4
Safety and the Business Action Center in the Department of State,
to develop and implement a public education program for
businesses across the State regarding the provisions of the bill.
COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:
The committee amendments revise the definition of “Total THC”
and exclude news media from liability provisions.