This appears to be the latest approach by governors..
As governors from the nation’s two most populous states recently took executive action on curtailing the market for hemp-derived cannabinoid products, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said Sept. 17 that he’s ready to do the same.
In Illinois, where licensed dispensaries sold more than $2 billion in regulated cannabis last year, representing the third-largest adult-use market in the nation, Pritzker said during a press conference on Tuesday that products with intoxicating constituents from the hemp plant should be treated no differently.
Last year, the governor called on the Illinois Legislature to crack down on the state’s unregulated landscape for intoxicating hemp products, but state lawmakers have yet to answer.
Now, Pritzker’s willingness to take matters into his own hands follows recent executive actions in California, where Gov. Gavin Newsom issued emergency regulations in September 2024, and in Texas, where Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order earlier this month.
“I have advocated for new laws in the state of Illinois that would restrict the distribution of hemp-infused and THC-infused [products] from hemp, whether it’s drinks or gummies or candies,” Pritzker said this week. “And what we’ve got to do is get a handle on this. The Legislature was unwilling to do it.”
In December, the governor threw his support behind House Bill 4293, the Hemp Consumer Products Act, which aimed to require all products containing intoxicating cannabinoids to adhere to the same standards outlined in the state’s Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act, which Pritzker signed into law in June 2019 to legalize adult-use cannabis. The proposed hemp bill would have included requirements for licensing, testing, packaging and age-gating.
