SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 3945

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: MARCH 19, 2026

      The Senate Judiciary Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Senate Bill No. 3945.

      As amended and reported, this bill makes certain changes to the restrictions for the sale of hemp products and intoxicating hemp beverages. 

Under current law, effective April 13, 2026, intoxicating hemp beverages will be limited to five milligrams of total THC per serving, or 10 milligrams of total THC per container, and may only be sold by certain licensees of the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) or the Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC).  Sales by ABC licensees will be subject to certain product display restrictions.  Additionally, effective April 13, 2026, hemp producers will become subject to a 0.3 percent THC concentration limit on plants and plant parts.  Effective November 13, 2026, in conformity with federal law, intoxicating hemp beverages may no longer be sold by ABC licensees, and the sale of such products by CRC licensees will be treated in the same manner as adult use cannabis.

     The bill extends the compliance deadlines on the sale of intoxicating hemp beverages by ABC and CRC licensees from April 13, 2026 to May 31, 2026.  However, the November 13, 2026 deadline ending sales by ABC licensees remains in place.  The bill also allows hemp producers to exceed the 0.3 percent THC limit, until May 31, 2026, if the material is an intermediate hemp-derived extract that is in the process of being manufactured into a final product that meets the legal THC limits. 

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amended the bill to:

      1. Clarify that the provisions applicable to hemp producers include their agents, as those agents are authorized by the Department of Agriculture to cultivate, handle, or process hemp or hemp-derived cannabinoid products;

      2. Change the date by which hemp producers would no longer be allowed certain THC concentration exemptions from November 13, 2026 to May 31, 2026;

      3. Remove certain provisions that would have changed existing law concerning serving size and container size limits for intoxicating hemp beverages; and

      4. Extend certain compliance deadlines concerning the sale of intoxicating hemp beverages from April 13, 2026 to May 31, 2026.