All Roll Calls
Yes: 124 • No: 8
ArkansasSB5332025 Regular SessionSenateWALLET
TO PROVIDE FOR THE REGULATION OF CONSUMABLE HEMP PRODUCTS BY THE ARKANSAS TOBACCO CONTROL BOARD; AND TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS LAW TO ALLOW REGULATION AND PURCHASE OF CONSUMABLE HEMP PRODUCTS.
Sponsored By: Tyler Dees (Republican), Jimmy Gazaway (Republican)
Enacted
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
10 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 3 costs, 6 mixed.
Hemp violations bring criminal business risks
Selling, taking orders, delivering, buying, or selling hemp without the required permit is a Class A misdemeanor upon conviction. Purposeful, knowing, or reckless violations of production, manufacturing, sales, distribution, marketing, or processing rules carry misdemeanor penalties. Those penalties include up to $5,000, up to one year in county jail, or both. Purposeful, knowing, or reckless manufacture, marketing, or sale of intoxicating hemp is a felony. A convicted holder whose permit is suspended or revoked must surrender it to the court; renewal or new permits may be barred for the court-set period.
Hemp businesses face annual permit fees
The law makes the framework effective only after the Attorney General certifies a listed federal or court development. Covered hemp businesses need annual permits; manufacturer, wholesaler, and retailer permits each cost $5,000 and expire June 30. Manufacturers selling products in Arkansas must also register with the Department of Finance and Administration. Permits cannot cover homes, mobile structures, vehicles, or improperly zoned sites. Fees support Arkansas Tobacco Control operations and merchant training; the funding provision applies until the separate 2023-law contingency is met.
Hemp makers face intoxicating product bans
The law treats finished hemp products for human use with total THC above 0% as Schedule VI controlled substances. Otherwise legal consumable hemp and medical marijuana regulated under Amendment 98 are excluded. Cannabis-derived business activity needs authorization under the hemp rules or medical marijuana amendment; unreported consumable hemp products cannot be handled. Consumable hemp cannot contain ethanol, nicotine, tobacco, intoxicating hemp, or THC amounts posing misuse, overdose, accidental overconsumption, or inaccurate-dose risks. The law also bans intoxicating hemp manufacture and sales, sales to minors, and marketing for intoxication, as containing THC, or with unlawful drug or health claims.
Hemp shoppers get required health warnings
Hemp sellers must post a clearly visible notice where products are available for purchase. It must state that the product contains THC and that minors cannot buy it. It must warn pregnant or breastfeeding women against THC use because of birth and developmental defect risks. Missing notices bring a first-offense fine of at least $500 and later fines of up to $1,000 each. Each violation and each day count separately.
Hemp sellers must use listed products
The law sets December 1, 2025, as the first annual certification deadline for manufacturers selling retail hemp products in Arkansas. In-state and out-of-state manufacturers must certify compliance under penalty of perjury, listing every brand, category, product name, and flavor. The Board must maintain a public directory from that date, update it at least monthly, and notify licensed sellers of changes. Starting 90 calendar days after publication, unlisted products cannot be bought or sold for retail and face seizure, forfeiture, and destruction. Sellers face up to $500 per individual product per violation until removal or listing; penalties go to the Tobacco Control Revenue Fund.
Hemp retailers face sales channel limits
Permitted hemp sellers cannot use self-service displays, vending machines, or orders completed solely online or through similar means. They also cannot advertise or promote hemp in ways intended to appeal to minors. Sellers have the right to refuse a hemp sale to any person.
Qualifying hemp shipments can cross Arkansas
The Schedule VI changes preserve interstate transport through Arkansas for hemp meeting the stated THC limit or January 1, 2025 federal definition. The consumable hemp rules also protect through-shipments containing no more than 0.3% delta-9 THC by dry weight. That protection covers shipments from a licensed producer in another state to a licensed handler in another state.
Harmed consumers gain hemp lawsuit rights
People harmed by hemp-rule violations can sue, and violations trigger Arkansas deceptive trade practice remedies and penalties. The Attorney General and county prosecutors can enforce the rules; state, county, and city officials must assist the Board. After notice and a hearing, the Board can suspend or revoke permits and impose up to $5,000 per violation. Each day counts separately, and the Board's authority includes sales to minors. After an administrative finding of guilt involving seized hemp, the Board must order the products destroyed.
New safeguards limit minors' hemp access
Covered businesses cannot give minors free hemp samples, product components, or coupons for free samples. Public street and sidewalk giveaways are also barred within 500 feet of playgrounds, public schools, or other facilities while mainly used by minors. Permit holders must display a sign saying sales to minors, and minors' purchases or possession, are illegal. Minors may assist store compliance checks or act as retail agents with written parental consent on file and must appear underage. They must show true identification when asked; failure to provide it is a defense in enforcement or related civil cases.
Legal hemp exceptions carry strict limits
Qualifying consumable hemp products are excluded from Arkansas's marijuana definition but remain subject to hemp rules. Industrial hemp must meet the stricter of the 0.3% delta-9 THC dry-weight limit and the January 1, 2025 federal definition. The controlled-substance exception for THC in hemp-derived cannabidiol also requires a nationally accredited laboratory to verify quality, purity, and accuracy. That exception excludes products approved by the Food and Drug Administration for marketing as medicine.
Sponsors & Cosponsors
Sponsors
Tyler Dees
Republican • Senate
Jimmy Gazaway
Republican • House
Cosponsors
There are no cosponsors for this bill.
Roll Call Votes
Senate vote • 4/15/2025
Senate Vote - Tuesday, April 15, 2025 1:34:24 PM
Yes: 26 • No: 0 • Other: 8
House vote • 4/14/2025
House Vote - Monday, April 14, 2025 4:45:22 PM
Yes: 72 • No: 8 • Other: 7
Senate vote • 4/3/2025
Senate Vote - Thursday, April 3, 2025 3:38:48 PM
Yes: 26 • No: 0 • Other: 6
Actions Timeline
Notification that SB533 is now Act 934
4/22/2025SenateDELIVERED TO GOVERNOR.
4/16/2025SenateReported correctly enrolled and ordered delivered to the Governor.
4/16/2025SenateORDERED ENROLLED
4/15/2025SenateRead the third time and passed.
4/15/2025SenateRules suspended.
4/15/2025SenateHouse Amendment No. 1 read first time, rule suspended, read second time and concurred in.
4/15/2025SenatePlaced on second reading for purpose of amendment.
4/15/2025SenateReturned from the House as passed as amended # 1 .
4/14/2025SenateReturned to Senate as passed, as amended # 1
4/14/2025HouseRead the third time and passed and ordered transmitted to the Senate.
4/14/2025HouseReturned by the Committee Do Pass
4/9/2025HouseREPORTED CORRECTLY ENGROSSED
4/8/2025HouseAmendment No. 1 read and adopted and the bill ordered engrossed.
4/8/2025HousePlaced on second reading for the purpose of amendment.
4/8/2025HouseRead the first time, rules suspended, read the second time and referred to the Committee on HOUSE RULES
4/3/2025HouseRECEIVED FROM THE SENATE
4/3/2025HouseOrdered immediately transmitted to the House.
4/3/2025SenateRead the third time and passed.
4/3/2025SenateREPORTED CORRECTLY ENGROSSED
4/2/2025SenateAmendment # 1 read the first time, rules suspended, read the second time and adopted, ordered engrossed.
4/2/2025SenatePlaced on second reading for purpose of amendment.
4/2/2025SenateReturned by the Committee with the recommendation that it Do Pass as amended, Amendment # 1
4/1/2025SenateRead first time, rules suspended, read second time, referred to AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT - SENATE
3/20/2025SenateFiled
3/20/2025Senate
Bill Text
SB533 - Introduced
3/20/2025
Act Version
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