As many retailers are getting ready for the new regulations on hemp products, State Rep. Andy Whitt (R-Harvest) is defending the state’s new ban on certain hemp products — as the latest Farm Bill passed by Congress seems poised to further eradicate the market.

Whitt sponsored HB445 earlier this year, landmark legislation regulating consumable hemp products in Alabama.

The measure established clear limits on THC content, banned synthetic and intoxicating cannabinoids such as Delta-8 and HHC, and placed new packaging, testing, and licensing requirements on manufacturers and retailers.

The new law takes effect January 1, 2026.

“We all saw the vape shops, the smoke shops that have have popped up on every corner across the state and all of our cities that basically, you know, it was, it was these dime store marijuana shops you could go in,” Whitt said Monday on WVNN.

“It was called hemp, but none of them actually passed the the test. When ABC went in and looked, or Leah went in and tested these products. So we had to, we had to get a handle on that. Alabama took the lead to create that law, and I certainly appreciate the legislature following me and helping me pass that legislation and protect our citizens.”

“The largest DUI percentage for based on ALEA’s numbers, the largest number of DUIs has to do with THC products, not alcohol, but THC products,” Whitt said.

Not only do the retailers have make changes due to the new state regulations, but they will eventually have to also comply with new federal regulations.

Congress recently passed a ban on the sale of consumable hemp-derived products with more than 0.4 milligrams of THC.

Whitt argues that Congress was just following Alabama’s example on the issue.

“Alabama took the lead,” he said. “We saw there was an issue with these products being sold out on the convenience store shelves. There these delta eight, the Delta nine products that was being openly marketed across the state. You know, these products are unregulated. They’re untested. And frankly, being sold in places that had no businesses acting like a pharmacy. A gas station is for gasoline, the soft drinks — not handing out these high powered substances.”

“[I]t was created in 2018 by a loophole in the Farm Bill,” he added, “it was the wild wild west regarding these products.”

Whitt said lawmakers put the new system under the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board because “everyone felt that ABC would be the best to regulate this,” adding, “ABC is not selling this. Okay, ABC is not, the state is not in this business.”

He said ABC “had the mechanism, they had the staff to be able to do that,” and warned of consequences for retailers who violate the rules: “If they’re in there and they see these products, they could easily lose their license.”

The lawmaker admitted he received pushback on the issue, but ultimately is standing by the need for the law in the Yellowhammer State.

“We did have quite a bit of pushback on this, but it was a common sense thing to do,” he said. “I mean, they had found a loophole in a federal law, and they had exploited it at the detriment of the people’s health here, and it was again, Wild Wild West selling these products…It was widely being smuggled into schools, sold into schools. Children was taking it, overdosing on it, going to the hospital, ended up in ICU. The retailers don’t want to tell that side of the story, but it’s happening, and it’s had it happening all over Alabama.”

Whitt also pointed to what he described as lax age controls, saying “even in Birmingham, you could get it dropped off your door like Uber Eats.” He added, “He had no idea if I was 1418, or 40, and he was willing to come over and bring these products.”

On the looming federal change, Whitt said the new federal law “basically does away with with all of their products, other than the creams, the lotions, that truly was, the hemp based product, lotions for arthritis, etc, and nothing that you take orally or anything of that nature.”

Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on X @Yaffee