MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Two major pieces of legislation designed to tighten regulations around both electronic cigarettes and consumable THC products like delta-8 were approved by the Legislature on Tuesday and sent to Gov. Kay Ivey’s desk for final approval.
“Trying to protect the youth of our state is important, and I think the measures that were taken today with those bills did that,” said House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, speaking with reporters outside of the House floor at the Alabama State House in Montgomery.
The two bills are House Bill 8 and House Bill 445 which target vapes and THC products, respectively, with both raising the minimum age for use to 21 in line with alcohol and tobacco products, and limiting their access and availability.
Rep. Barabara Drummond, D-Mobile, is the sponsor of HB8, and has carried similar bills for the past three years. The bill would ban self-service or vending machine sales of vape products in areas accessible to minors, as well as their sale outside of vape stores and specialty shops, minus some exceptions, including U.S.-made products and those approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The bill was modified in the Senate earlier Tuesday to both increase penalties for retailers who violate the new regulations, and to reduce penalties for minors caught using vape products. It was carried in the Senate by Sen. David Sessions, R-Grand Bay.
Once the bill made its way back to the House for concurrence, several members voiced concerns.
“I guess what my concern is with this is that so many things that have happened this year are directly impacting the convenience stores and the gas stations, and it’s taking away the options for morally responsible Alabama citizens to be able to go in and purchase these items,” said Rep. Napoleon Bracy, D-Mobile.
Others, like Rep. Paul Lee, R-Dothan, expressed similar concerns, though Drummond, pushed back, stressing the rampant use of vape products among Alabama teens.
House members ultimately concurred with the bill and its Senate changes, sending it off to Ivey’s desk for final approval. Ledbetter would go on to call the bill’s passage a “step in the right direction,” and Drummond, that it would save lives, citing an instance where a Dallas County teen died after using a vape laced with fentanyl.
“Though Sen. Sessions took it a little bit further, I am still elated because at the end of the day, somebody’s child is going to be saved as a result of this,” Drummond said, speaking with reporters. “This is a monumental bill.”
Standing alongside Drummond, Sessions spoke to the increased penalties for retailers found in violation of the proposal, which include fines of up to $5,000 for a first offense of selling to an individual under 21, and up to $20,000 and license revocation for a third infraction.
“I wanted to make it as tough as possible,” Sessions said. “At the end of the day, overall it’s a win because now we increased the penalties severely on the retailer, (and) we decreased the penalty on the child; we consider them a victim too.”
On HB445, its sponsor, Rep. Andy Whitt, R-Harvest, championed the bill on the House floor, noting that similar to the use of vape products, use of consumable THC products has run rampant among Alabama teens, and that his bill would help put an end to that.
Whitt’s bill would prohibit the sale of consumable THC products to those under 21, sets strict THC limits for said products, imposes a 10% tax on sales, and limits their availability to specialty shops. It also mandates retailers acquire a license to sell THC products, and imposes strict penalties for violations, including both civil and criminal penalties up to $20,000 and a Class C felony charge.
Psychoactive cannabinoid products have become a multibillion-dollar industry since the production and sale of hemp products was legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill, an unintended consequence of the federal legislation.
Like HB8, HB445 was changed on the Senate floor earlier Tuesday, changes that saw that five milligram THC cap for said products raised to ten milligrams. The Senate also modified the bill to allow THC products to be sold in grocery stores, but only in dedicated areas of the store, which must be at least 14,000 square feet.
Also like HB8, Bracy and others took issue with limiting the accessibility and availability of products for law abiding citizens.
“We’re creating a bad cycle,” Bracy said.
Nevertheless, the House concurred with the bill with a vote of 60-27 with 14 abstentions.
“It’s really been a wild west mentality since the 2018 Farm Bill was passed, and today we reeled in those illegal elements that have been plaguing our communities and our students in our high schools,” Whitt said to reporters after the passage of the bill. “…We’re protecting our kids today in Alabama.”