BY STEVEN STIEFEL
FOR THE OBSERVER
ALABAMA — Local store owners and consumers of hemp products are bracing for the worst after Gov. Kay Ivey signed a controversial new law earlier this month that reduces availability of such products and is expected to destroy thousands of small businesses that sell them.
House Bill 445 grants the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board authority to regulate all hemp-derived products, including delta-8, delta-9 and delta-10. The new state law imposes strict limits on hemp-derived products, including a 10mg per serving cap, a 40mg package limit, a ban on smokable hemp and tighter retail licensing and testing requirements. The law requires all hemp products be manufactured, labeled, tested, packaged and remain within the state. Retailers must obtain a $1,000 annual license from the ABC Board and pass a criminal background check to sell hemp products. Violations carry steep penalties. The law takes effect July 1, and businesses must comply fully by Jan. 1, 2026.
Hemp shop owners from across Alabama had urged Ivey to veto the bill, fearing the regulation would not only harm their customers who use hemp products therapeutically, but would devastate their businesses.
CBD, or cannabidiol, is a naturally occurring compound found in the hemp plant that does not cause the intoxicating effects of THC like its cousin, marijuana. Consumable CBD products have become a multibillion-dollar industry since the production and sale of hemp products was legalized federally under the 2018 Farm Bill.
State Rep. Andy Whitt (R-Harvest), the bill’s sponsor, framed hemp products as harmful to youth and dismissed calls for a yearlong impact study. However, research from Harvard University indicates that cannabis and its derivatives can offer therapeutic benefits like reducing anxiety, pain, inflammation and seizures. Researchers concluded that hemp products are less dangerous than many legal substances like alcohol or opioid prescriptions.
Locally, Stephen Bradford has sold hemp products at his Auburn store, Hippie Street, for 30 years. He said the HB 445 has been shrouded with deception.
“If you sit and listen to all of the stuff that people have said in these meetings, every bit of it is falsification of information, and nobody understanding what they’re actually talking about,” Bradford said. “And like the one thing that everybody talks about — hemp has never killed anybody.”
Cannabis does not rank among the top 50 causes of ER poisonings, according to Alabama Poison Control.
“They’re pretending to protect kids from overdoses that haven’t killed anyone,” said Bradley Haddon, who owns Top Shelf Alternatives in Opelika. “Meanwhile, cannabis just got rescheduled federally. It doesn’t belong in the same category as heroin or meth.”
Haddon recounted stories of customers who used cannabis to avoid opioids or alcohol, including a 75-year-old veteran who had 12 back surgeries and had to be taken off opioid pain medications because she was developing congestive heart failure. She found relief alternatively from CBD gummies.
“People want alternatives that are safe, not black-market drugs,” Haddon said. “People are terrified of fentanyl — they thank us for offering a safe space.”
A local woman who asked not to be identified said she suffers from anxiety and debilitating chronic pain from endometriosis, and CBD oil provides relief without the negative side effects of various medications prescribed by her doctors. Giving her elderly pet CBD oil has helped the dog regain mobility. She called the governor’s signing the bill “a very cruel thing to do.”
“People who have chronic pain don’t understand why she did it, after tons of people called her over and over to veto the bill,” she said. “Parents said they were using this product to help their kids deal with seizures — how evil do you have to be to make it less available?”
Haddon accused lawmakers of pharmaceutical protectionism — writing laws that eliminate competition to the products from which they profit. Bradford said while consumer demand for hemp products is growing, alcohol consumption in Alabama has dramatically declined. According to IWSR, which monitors global beverage alcohol data, in 2023, total beverage alcohol volume in the U.S. decreased by 2.6%. The trend continued into 2024, with a 2.8% drop in the first seven months alone, according to IWSR, which monitors global beverage alcohol data.
According to followthemoney.com, the sponsor of HB 445 (Whitt) accepted campaign contributions from Budweiser-Busch, the Alabama Wholesale Beer Association, Turner Beverage Co., Molson Coors, the Horn Beverage Company, the Alabama Beverage Association and International Wines Inc. The bill’s co-sponsor, Sen. Tim Melson (R-Florence), operates three opioid trial clinics, according to a July 2023 article on AL.com.
Haddon and Bradford criticized HB 445 as a direct attack on thousands of small businesses throughout Alabama.
“With one signature, the state could wipe them out,” Haddon said.
Haddon said 99% of his products at Top Shelf Alternatives will be prohibited under the new restrictions. Bradford said the state legislation affects 80% of his merchandise at Hippie Street, and he isn’t sure how his family will survive if the state puts them out of business.
“This is gonna be a big mess,” Bradford said. “I’m worried about not being able to pay bills. I’m on dialysis about to have a kidney transplant. We have three households that we support in our family group.
“If they don’t do an injunction or something, we’re going to have to regroup on what we’re selling and figure out something else,” he said. “All of us to have to rethink how we’re going to make money, how we’re going to earn a living. It’s very scary for us, because I’ve been doing this 35 years. I don’t know how to do anything else.
“It’s a big mess, and I don’t know why we had to go backward instead of forward,” Bradford said. “There are over 9,000 stores in this state that are looking at closing.”
The bill also requires dispensaries to operate as stand-alone businesses, further burdening owners, many of whom rent space in multi-tenant retail spaces. Most cannabinoid products are sold from gas stations.
“Real estate costs alone will shut people down,” Haddon said.
He said he is also concerned about the bill’s assignment of enforcement powers.
“The ABC Board can conduct warrantless searches, even using local police with immunity from lawsuits,” he said. “That opens the door to abuse.”
He called the legislation a betrayal.
“The state said I could open this store, took my fees and now tells me it’s all illegal. We have loans to repay and no safety net,” Haddon said. “We did everything right. We followed the rules. Now, we’re told to expect to shut down.”
The governor’s signature on HB 445 stymied Haddon’s plans to open another store location in July.
“Now that’s dead — my wife’s cried herself to sleep for days,” Haddon said. “But I’m not quitting. This is my calling. My customers deserve better.”
Haddon predicted a booming illegal market for CBD products if the law stands.
“Prohibition won’t work,” he said, blasting the state’s prison system as being profit-driven.
“Possession of hemp products after July 1 becomes a Class C felony — no second chances,” he said. “Two former senators and oil tycoons run private prisons. More inmates mean more money. That’s modern-day slavery.”
Haddon urged citizens to stay informed.
“This law is a blueprint for how special interests control policy,” he said. “They’ll make it so hard to operate legally that the system collapses.”
He said many of his customers are unaware of the law and its impending consequences.
“Eight out of 10 don’t even know it passed. They’re too busy trying to survive. These aren’t stoners — they’re regular folks looking for relief,” he said.
Haddon said Alabama’s lawmakers have lost touch with their constituents.
“This is about money, not public safety,” he said. “If they admit cannabis helps people, their whole narrative collapses.”
