Gavin Newsom just had a couple hemp/marijuana bills cross his desk, with mixed results.
The first is a bill allowing smokable hemp and CBD-infused drinks and food to be legally obtained in the state.
AB 45 is the title of the bill, and it requires a tax scheme to be set up some time next year, so we’re at least a few months off from seeing this enacted. Until then, producers are able to begin growing hemp products to sell in other states.
However, another bill passed Newsom’s desk that was vetoed.
In November 2020, a judge prohibited marijuana advertisements on billboards that ran on highways. Since then, it’s a been an uphill battle getting them back.
The Bureau of Cannabis Control created new provisions after the ruling, stating that billboards were allowed on highways, just not Interstate. So as long as the highway stayed within the borders of California, advertisements were allowed.
But this did not make it law, so Assemblyman Bill Quirk authored a bill that would do so.
This is the bill Governor Newsom has vetoed.
Citing potential advertising to youth, Newsom wrote this about his veto:
“When the voters passed Proposition 64, they enacted robust protections shielding youth from exposure to cannabis and cannabis advertising,” Newsom said. “Among other things, voters completely prohibited billboard-based cannabis advertising on all Interstate Highways, and on all State Highways that cross the California border. Allowing advertising on these high-traffic thoroughfares could expose young passengers to cannabis advertising.”
The strange double standard between marijuana and alcohol advertising continues.
