After Gov. Kay Ivey signed House Bill 445 — the bill setting major restrictions on Alabama’s hemp and CBD industry — into law in May, confusion arose over exactly when the bill’s provisions, specifically its ban on the sale and possession of smokable hemp products, would go into effect.
While the legislation’s language stipulates that it “shall become effective on July 1, 2025,” several provisions regarding the licensure of consumable hemp manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers have an effective date of Jan. 1, 2026.
However, according to reporting from WSFA 12 News, the Alabama Attorney General’s Office has confirmed that the smokable hemp ban will indeed go into effect in July.
“The criminal prohibition on the sale or possession of hemp products specifically excluded from the definition of ‘consumable hemp product’ goes into effect July 1, 2025,” a spokesperson for AG Steve Marshall’s office told WSFA on Tuesday.
This means that smokable hemp products — defined in the bill as “any plant product or raw hemp material that is marketed to consumers as hemp cigarettes, hemp cigars, hemp joints, hemp buds, hemp flowers, hemp leaves, ground hemp flowers, or any variation of these terms to include any product that contains a cannabinoid, whether psychoactive or not” — will indeed become illegal for sale or possession in Alabama starting next month.
The AG’s spokesperson also noted that selling or possessing any such product in Alabama after July 1 “could subject an individual to prosecution for a Class C felony” punishable by a maximum prison sentence of 10 years and up to a $15,000 fine.
It is worth noting that, in contrast, an individual charged with “personal use” marijuana possession in Alabama only faces a Class A misdemeanor with a much lighter maximum sentence of 1 year in prison and a $6,000 fine.
The quick turnaround between HB445’s signature in May and its July implementation date has raised questions about just how effectively the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board — which is charged with regulating consumable hemp products under the legislation — will be able to institute and enforce the new restrictions.
Per WSFA, the effective date of Jan. 1, 2026, found in certain sections of HB445 was only put in place to allow licensed hemp retailers adequate time to fully comply with the bill’s licensing requirements.
A spokesperson for the Alabama ABC Board referred all questions regarding the bill’s implementation to the AG’s office and told APR that they are currently awaiting further instruction from the Attorney General regarding the administration of HB445’s policies.
The AG’s office did not respond to APR’s request for further comment.
