Sponsored by:
Senator M. TERESA RUIZ
District 29 (Essex and Hudson)
Senator PAUL D. MORIARTY
District 4 (Atlantic, Camden and Gloucester)
SYNOPSIS
Regulates production and sale of certain intoxicating hemp products.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning intoxicating hemp products, supplementing Title 24 of the New Jersey Statutes, and amending various sections of statutory law.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 3 of P.L.2019, c.238 (C.4:28-8) is amended to read as follows:
3. As used in sections 1 through 9 of P.L.2019, c.238 (C.4:28-6 et al.), unless the context otherwise requires:
"Agent" means an employee or contractor of a hemp producer.
"Applicant" means a person, or for a business entity, any person authorized to act on behalf of the business entity, who applies to the department to be a hemp producer in the State.
"Commercial sale" means the sale of a product in the stream of commerce at retail, at wholesale, or on the Internet.
"Cultivate" means to plant, water, grow, or harvest a plant or crop.
"Department" means the New Jersey Department of Agriculture.
"Federally defined THC level for hemp" means a delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of not more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis for hemp or in a hemp product.
"Handle" means to possess or store a hemp plant on premises owned, operated, or controlled by a hemp producer for any period of time or in a vehicle for any period of time other than during the actual transport of the plant between premises owned, operated, or controlled by hemp producers or persons or entities authorized to produce hemp pursuant to 7 U.S.C. s.1639o et seq. and any state law or rule or regulation adopted pursuant thereto. "Handle" does not mean possession or storage of finished hemp products.
"Hemp" means the plant Cannabis sativa L. and any part of that plant, including the seeds of the plant and all derivatives, extracts, cannabinoids, isomers, acids, salts, and salts of isomers, whether growing or not, with a [delta-9] total tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of not more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis. Hemp and hemp-derived cannabinoids, including cannabidiol, shall be considered an agricultural commodity and not a controlled substance due to the presence of hemp or hemp-derived cannabinoids.
"Hemp producer" means a person or business entity authorized by the department to cultivate, handle, or process hemp in the State.
"Hemp product" means a finished product with a [delta-9] total tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of not more than 0.3 percent, and not more than 0.5 milligrams of total THC per serving and 2.5 milligrams of total THC per package, that is derived from or made by processing a hemp plant or plant part and prepared in a form available for commercial sale. The term includes cosmetics, personal care products, food intended for human or animal consumption, cloth, cordage, fiber, fuel, paint, paper, particleboard, plastics, and any product containing one or more hemp-derived cannabinoids such as cannabidiol. Hemp products shall not be considered controlled substances due to the presence of hemp or hemp-derived cannabinoids. Hemp product shall not mean a cannabinoid product that is not derived from naturally occurring biologically active chemical constituents and shall not mean an intoxicating hemp product as defined in section 3 of P.L.2021, c.16 (C.24:6I-33).
"Process" means to convert hemp into a marketable form.
"Secretary" means the Secretary of the New Jersey Department of Agriculture.
"Transport" means the movement or shipment of hemp by a hemp producer, a person or entity authorized to produce hemp pursuant to 7 U.S.C. s.1639o et seq. and any state law or rule or regulation adopted pursuant thereto, or a hemp producer's or authorized entity's third-party carrier or agent. "Transport" shall not mean the movement or shipment of hemp products.
Total THC means the total concentration of all tetrahydrocannabinols in a cannabis item, including delta-8, delta-9, delta-10, tetrahydrocannabinolic acid and any other chemically similar compound, substance, derivative, or isomer of tetrahydrocannabinol, regardless of how derived or manufactured, and any other cannabinoid, other than cannabidiol, identified by the Cannabis Regulatory Commission, in consultation with the Department of Agriculture and the Attorney General, as causing intoxication.
(cf: P.L.2019, c.238, s.3)
2. Section 3 of P.L.2021, c.16 (C.24:6I-33) is amended to read as follows:
3. Definitions.
As used in P.L.2021, c.16 (C.24:6I-31 et al.) regarding the personal use of cannabis, unless the context otherwise requires:
"Alternative treatment center" means an organization issued a permit pursuant to the "Jake Honig Compassionate Use Medical Cannabis Act," P.L.2009, c.307 (C.24:6I-1 et al.) to operate as a medical cannabis cultivator, medical cannabis manufacturer, medical cannabis dispensary, or clinical registrant, as well as any alternative treatment center deemed pursuant to section 7 of that act (C.24:6I-7) to concurrently hold a medical cannabis cultivator permit, a medical cannabis manufacturer permit, and a medical cannabis dispensary permit.
"Cannabis" means all parts of the plant Cannabis sativa L., whether growing or not, the seeds thereof, and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of the plant or its seeds, except those containing resin extracted from the plant, which are cultivated and, when applicable, manufactured in accordance with P.L.2021, c.16 (C.24:6I-31 et al.) for use in cannabis products as set forth in this act, but shall not include the weight of any other ingredient combined with cannabis to prepare topical or oral administrations, food, drink, or other product. "Cannabis" does not include: medical cannabis dispensed to registered qualifying patients pursuant to the "Jake Honig Compassionate Use Medical Cannabis Act," P.L.2009, c.307 (C.24:6I-1 et al.) and P.L.2015, c.158 (C.18A:40-12.22 et al.); marijuana as defined in N.J.S.2C:35-2 and applied to any offense set forth in chapters 35, 35A, and 36 of Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes, or P.L.2001, c.114 (C.2C:35B-1 et seq.), or marihuana as defined in section 2 of P.L.1970, c.226 (C.24:21-2) and applied to any offense set forth in the "New Jersey Controlled Dangerous Substances Act," P.L.1970, c.226 (C.24:21-1 et al.); or hemp or a hemp product cultivated, handled, processed, transported, or sold pursuant to the "New Jersey Hemp Farming Act," P.L.2019, c.238 (C.4:28-6 et al.).
"Cannabis consumption area" means, as further described in section 28 of P.L.2019, c.153 (C.24:6I-21), a designated location operated by a licensed cannabis retailer or permit holder for dispensing medical cannabis, for which both a State and local endorsement has been obtained, that is either: (1) an indoor, structurally enclosed area of the cannabis retailer or permit holder that is separate from the area in which retail sales of cannabis items or the dispensing of medical cannabis occurs; or (2) an exterior structure on the same premises as the cannabis retailer or permit holder, either separate from or connected to the cannabis retailer or permit holder, at which cannabis items or medical cannabis either obtained from the retailer or permit holder, or brought by a person to the consumption area, may be consumed.
"Cannabis cultivator" means any licensed person or entity th