A Pennsylvania senator unveils a statewide hemp-THC regulation bill; the Sixth Circuit narrows the injunction on Ohio's hemp restrictions; a federal judge ends the BuzzBallz–Patco RTD fight; California expands cannabis testing and track-and-trace. For general information only — not legal advice.
The NRBC Compliance Brief is a daily two-minute audio briefing on U.S. alcohol and hemp/THC regulation, covering federal agencies and all 50 states: TTB rulings and rulemaking, state alcohol authority actions, the federal hemp-ban timeline, THC-beverage rules, court decisions, taxes, tariffs, licensing, and enforcement. A new episode arrives every morning around 7 AM Eastern.
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This is the New Realm Compliance Brief, Volume One, Edition Forty-Seven, for Tuesday, September twenty-ninth.
Our top story is in Pennsylvania, where Senator Dawn Keefer, a Republican, announced the Pennsylvania Hemp and Cannabinoid Act, a bill that would bring hemp-derived THC products under a statewide framework for the first time. The bill would restrict sales to adults twenty-one and over with ID checks, require sellers to register with the state Department of Agriculture, mandate independent product testing and truthful labeling, and ban candy-style packaging. Keefer said the products today are sold next to candy and snacks. Existing operators would be grandfathered, and registration fees have not yet been specified. For distributors and retailers carrying hemp THC beverages in Pennsylvania, the fee schedule in the bill text will be the number to watch.
In federal court news, a judge dismissed the last of Patco Brands' counterclaims against BuzzBallz, ending a three-year fight between the two rival makers of orb-shaped ready-to-drink cocktails.
Around the states: the Sixth Circuit narrowed an injunction that had blocked Ohio from enforcing its new hemp restrictions, meaning products above point four milligrams of total THC per container again face dispensary-only rules for most sellers while the case continues. And in California, Governor Newsom signed two cannabis bills expanding product testing and track-and-trace, including a provision that bars tobacco retailers from selling cannabis.
On the radar: the federal hemp redefinition takes effect December eleventh, Virginia's draft adult-use retail rules head toward final adoption in December, and Massachusetts votes on its cannabis repeal question November third.
Full details and source links are in today's email. This update is for general information only — it is not legal advice.