A bill designed to impose strict regulations on consumable hemp products such as delta-8 and other psychoactive cannabinoids passed out of the Senate Committee on Tourism Wednesday. Its sponsor pledged to work with two other lawmakers carrying similar bills to reach a compromise.
Sponsored by Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, Senate Bill 255 would only allow for psychoactive cannabinoid products to be sold at establishments dedicated to selling the products. It would also mandate rigorous testing on psychoactive cannabinoids, prohibit them from being sold alongside alcohol and impose on them a 6% sales tax.
"We all understand that all you've got to do is look around in the Senate and the House (for) the bills that are addressing similar products; it is very much a concern of every legislator here today," said Sen. Randy Price, R-Opelika, the chair of the committee.
Psychoactive cannabinoid products have become a multibillion-dollar industry since the the production and sale of hemp products was legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill, an unintentional side effect of the federal legislation.
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