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On Wednesday, the Alabama Senate Healthcare Committee held a public hearing for SB237, a bill introduced by Chairman Tim Melson, R-District 1, which looks to regulate various products containing hemp derivatives including beverages and “psychoactive hemp products.” The legislation would also prohibit the sale of smokable hemp products in the state and the sale of any hemp products to individuals under the age of 21.
Molly Cole, a representative from the Alabama Hemp and Vape Association, raised concerns about the bill, claiming that it overregulates small businesses in the state.
“[HB237] overregulates small businesses, making it harder for them to operate while failing to put real protections in place to keep hemp products away from minors,” Cole said. “Yes, we need regulation, but we need a 21+ model that will mirror successful policies in other states.”
“It puts hemp under [the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board] which oversees liquor, not agricultural products. This move not only burdens an already-stretched agency, but it also risks penalizing and criminalizing hemp products more harshly than alcohol and tobacco,” Cole continued. “It limits direct sales favoring corporate distributors over small businesses that have operated responsibly for years; it imposes unrealistic THC caps, effectively banning many common products and pushing consumers toward unregulated sources; it does not properly restrict youth access, lacking clear labeling, packaging, and enforcement rules.”
Cole recommended that instead, the bill should move the regulation of hemp products to the Department of Agriculture, create a “single comprehensive license” to reduce bureaucratic hurdles, set more reasonable THC caps, and establish clearer rules restricting marketing and sales to minors. Cole also suggested banning the sale of hemp products in convenience stores and gas stations to further limit accessibility to minors.
John Parker, a small business owner, also criticized the bill in its current form.
“This is a well-intended idea that y’all have, there’s just going to be unintended consequences that are vastly worse than regulating this in a safe way… it needs to be regulated in a correct manner, and we have templates all over the country that know how to do this,” Parker said, claiming that the bill’s current language would create a black market, driving consumers to buy unregulated hemp products and marijuana.
A concerned citizen then spoke in opposition of the bill due to her stance that consumable hemp products should be completely illegal in the state. “Introducing a bill to regulate these products, is an admission to their illegality, its also a backdoor to allowing recreational marijuana and normalizing these mind-altering products,” she stated. She also echoed the previous speakers’ concerns that the ABC Board does not have the adequate resources to regulate hemp products across the state.
Carmelo Parasiliti, a business owner who operates a hemp farm, a hemp manufacturing facility and two retail locations in Alabama, also opposed the bill. He claimed that the legislation would create unfair double standards for hemp “while alcohol, tobacco, and even our food supply remain dangerously unregulated.”
“Hemp has never caused a single death, yet we are subject to some of the most rigorous testing requirements in the industry… meanwhile, alcohol and tobacco, which together contribute to over 600,000 deaths per year in the U.S., do not have to go through mandatory batch testing before they hit the shelves. How is that logical?” Parasiliti asked the committee.
Parasaliti said that he feels like the legislation is “weaponizing regulations against small businesses.”
“The truth is, these extreme regulations on hemp are not about safety, they’re about limiting competition and protecting established industries. Alcohol and tobacco bring in billions in tax revenue and have powerful lobbying groups. Hemp, a newer industry, doesn’t have that kind of protection so instead we’re overregulated to make it harder to compete,” he continued.
Sen. Robert Stewart, D-District 23, expressed concerns with the bill’s decision to use the ABC Board as the regulator of hemp products when the Alabama Department of Agriculture already has expertise with these products.
An amendment was then introduced that would limit the number and type of retailers able to obtain licenses to sell hemp products. Specifically, it would limit the sale of hemp to standalone locations that require individuals to be 21 years old to enter. The amendment passed and was subsequently adopted by the committee.
Sen. Stewart attempted to carry the bill over so that the committee could continue to work on it, but Chairman Melson moved for a vote on the bill as amended. The committee voted against the bill’s passage, causing it to fail.
