Gavin Newsom Wants California to Have Stricter Drug Laws Than Florida

Last week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed tough new regulations on marijuana-derived drugs that would give the Golden State more repressive drug laws than even Florida.

Newsom, who has been mentioned as a potential successor to Joe Biden on the Democratic presidential ticket, announced new “emergency regulations” on Friday. Under the new rules, any “industrial hemp food product in its final form intended for human consumption” must contain “an undetectable amount of total THC” and “each package must contain no more than five servings.” The new rules would also prohibit anyone under the age of 21 from purchasing any hemp food product.

Newsom sold the new rules as necessary to protect children from accessing psychoactive products. “The industry bears full responsibility for not controlling the proliferation of these psychoactive products that are harming our children,” Newsom said at a news conference announcing the new rules.

THC is a psychoactive compound found naturally in cannabis. This usually refers to delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, which is what gets you “high” when you smoke marijuana, although there are other variations: Delta-8-THC is found in hemp — from the same plant as marijuana — and has a similar, if milder, effect compared to delta-9.

In the 2018 Farm Bill, Congress legalized industrial hemp, defining it as a hemp byproduct with “no more than 0.3 percent” delta-9-THC concentration. The result was an entire industry in which companies produced intoxicating delta-8-containing products that could be synthesized from hemp.

However, Newsome’s “emergency” regulations define THC to include both delta-8 AND delta-9, as well as many other hemp byproducts. While federal law allows hemp-derived substances to contain up to 0.3 percent delta-9, Newsom would prefer the limit be zero percent and would require producers to “provide documentation that includes a certificate of analysis from an independent testing lab to verify that the total amount of THC… does not exceed the limits for total THC content per serving.”

At his press conference, Newsom boasted about his pro-cannabis credentials, stating that during his time as lieutenant governor, he undertook “a very comprehensive and transparent process to put forth a white paper to advance the paradigm that ultimately led to” Proposition 64, the referendum initiative effectively legalizing marijuana in California, “which I helped develop, which I helped organize, which was aided and informed by that white paper.”

Yet Newsom has used this history to impose criminal laws on the state not only without the input of state lawmakers but also over their direct opposition. A bill in the state Legislature that would limit the amount of THC allowed in cannabis products died in committee last month.

At a news conference Friday, California Health and Human Services Secretary Mark Ghaly said Newson showed “leadership” by passing the legislation unilaterally after “the legislative process failed to move forward on providing us with something that will keep Californians safe, especially our young people.”

Newsome’s actions should certainly rankle any civil liberties advocate, but they also cast a dire light on his long-running rivalry with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

In November 2023, Newsom faced DeSantis, then running for the Republican presidential nomination, for a debate. The televised spat was the culmination of a years-long dispute between the two governors over whose state offers its citizens more freedom.

On this issue, the difference is stark: In 2019, Florida passed a law adopting federal hemp standards at the state level, allowing hemp-derived products that contain less than 0.3 percent delta-9-THC. In November, Floridians will vote on Amendment 3, which would allow adults 21 and older to consume marijuana recreationally — a proposal supported by Floridian and former President Donald Trump.

In fairness, DeSantis himself opposes Amendment 3. But when the Florida legislature passed House Bill 1698, which would have kept delta-9 below 0.3 percent while banning delta-8 and all other varieties, DeSantis vetoed the legislation.

“Senate Bill 1698 would dramatically disrupt and harm many small retail and manufacturing businesses in Florida — businesses that were created by recent legislation paving the way for commercial cannabis use,” DeSantis wrote in his veto letter. “I encourage the Florida Legislature to reconsider this issue during the next legislative session… Sensible, non-arbitrary regulation will provide much-needed stability for businesses and consumers.”

Gov. Newsom Says Hemp Products Pose a Risk to Youth, says Jim Higdon, Co-Founder of Cornbread Hemp Reason in an email. But Higdon calls Newsome’s emergency proposals “a bad faith effort to eliminate the cannabis industry rather than protect children” and “a protective tribute to the California cannabis industry.”

Newsom claims his state is a bastion of freedom and his new cannabis laws are designed to protect children. But by writing legislation that bans any trace of THC in any form, he effectively criminalizes the entire industry with a stroke of a pen.

The article Gavin Newsom wants California to have stricter drug laws than Florida first appeared on Reason.com.