Last week, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency executed search warrants at multiple businesses across the state in relation to a nearly yearlong investigation into illegal marijuana sales. Special agents seized marijuana, drug paraphernalia, and other items deemed illegal under Alabama’s current THC and hemp regulations.
Now, according to the Alabama Cannabis Coalition, more law enforcement action is on the way.
“The Alabama Cannabis Coalition has been told by an informant that there will be more RAIDS of Alabama Hemp Industry businesses,” the group stated in a recent press release. “We do NOT know when, but we would assume they are not going to waste any time flexing their muscles after the Press Conference [on June 27] by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency and the office of Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall.”
“Word on the street, they are targeting any business that is selling flower. Their plan is the same as 6/23/2025, confiscating flower and all cash in the business. Spread the word, protect yourselves and be safe. The long arm of the law has no boundaries,” they added.
This recent increase in state law enforcement activity related to hemp and THC products comes as no surprise, as the provisions of House Bill 445—the controversial new law setting major restrictions on Alabama’s hemp and CBD industry—are set to go into effect this Tuesday, July 1. Among those provisions is a complete ban on all smokable hemp products in the state.
Under the new law, sale or possession of any smokable hemp product will constitute a Class C felony punishable by a maximum prison sentence of 10 years and up to a $15,000 fine. Meanwhile, individuals charged with “personal use” marijuana possession in Alabama only face a Class A misdemeanor with a much lighter maximum sentence of 1 year in prison and a $6,000 fine.
In addition to the smokable hemp ban, direct-to-consumer online sales and deliveries will also become illegal under HB445, limiting the ability of out-of-state hemp companies to conduct business in Alabama starting Tuesday. Among those affected by the direct-to-consumer ban will be Cornbread Hemp, a Kentucky-based company that sells hemp products across the country.
“On July 1, Cornbread Hemp will be forced to say goodbye to more than 3,000 customers in Alabama, due to the passage of HB 445 this past legislative session. This new law bans the direct-to-consumer sales of hemp products from out-of-state manufacturers like Cornbread to residents of Alabama,” Jim Higdon, co-founder of Cornbread Hemp and a member of the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, said in a recent statement.
“We strongly believe that this prohibition against out-of-state sales is illegal under federal law as a violation of the dormant Commerce Clause,” Higdon continued. “We are currently exploring legal remedies while urging Alabama citizens to contact their representatives to address this problem in the next legislative session. Cornbread Hemp will not stop advocating on behalf of our customers in Alabama until this protectionist ban on mail-order hemp products is removed.”
Higdon and the U.S. Hemp Roundtable are not alone in challenging the legality of HB445. Last friday, four companies—Mellow Fellow Fun, LLC; Tasty Haze, LLC; The Humble Hemp Shack, LLC; and Seedless Green, LLC—filed a last-minute lawsuit to block some of the law’s provisions from taking effect. Like Cornbread Hemp, Mellow Fellow Fun is an out-of-state company that ships federally legal hemp products to states throughout the U.S., while the other three companies either grow, process, wholesale, retail or distribute hemp products in Alabama.
According to the companies, HB445 “improperly criminalizes two categories of hemp products, which affects significant sectors of Alabama’s fledgling hemp industry and will convert dozens of lawful business owners into criminals overnight.”
The companies are specifically looking to overrule the law’s ban on smokable hemp products and products containing psychoactive cannabinoids. Additionally, the suit requests an emergency temporary restraining order in hopes of preventing the enforcement of HB445 while litigation is ongoing.
As of writing, the Montgomery Circuit Court, where the suit was filed, has yet to deliver a ruling on the requested restraining order, and it remains unclear how the lawsuit will affect future law enforcement action related to HB445’s provisions.
