75-2: New Jersey Assembly sends Gov. Sherrill a bill moving the Nov. 13 hemp drink sales cutoff to Dec. 11 or later

The New Jersey Assembly voted 75-2 on Oct. 29 to pass Senate Bill 4635, a measure that would push back the date when alcohol and cannabis licensees must stop selling intoxicating hemp beverages, according to the New Jersey Legislature's bill record. The vote sends the bill to Gov. Mikie Sherrill, The Marijuana Herald reported. As of Nov. 1, the Legislature's bill history listed no action by the governor.

Under current state law, those licensees may sell intoxicating hemp beverages until Nov. 13, 2026. S4635 would replace that fixed date with a "federal compliance date" tied to the new federal hemp definition, which would keep sales legal until at least Dec. 11, 2026.

How the bill moved

The bill record shows S4635 was introduced in the Senate on Oct. 1 and referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which reported it on Oct. 15. The full Senate passed it 37-0 on Oct. 22. On Oct. 29, the Assembly received the Senate bill without sending it to committee, substituted it for its own companion bill, A5604, and passed it 75-2, with no abstentions listed. That vote completed passage in both houses.

The primary sponsors are Senate President Nicholas Scutari, a Democrat representing the 22nd District (Somerset and Union), and Assemblyman Robert Karabinchak, a Democrat representing the 18th District (Middlesex), according to the bill text. Assemblyman William Sampson is listed as a co-sponsor.

Heady NJ, a New Jersey cannabis news site, reported that the Senate passed the bill "without debate or speeches" and that the Assembly Appropriations Committee advanced A5604 13-0 on the same day, with two members not voting.

What the bill changes

Under current law, the holders of certain Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) licenses, including plenary wholesale, plenary retail distribution and qualifying plenary retail consumption licenses, as well as businesses licensed by the Cannabis Regulatory Commission (CRC), may sell intoxicating hemp beverages "until November 13, 2026," according to the bill text. After that date, they would face the penalties and prohibitions that apply to everyone else. The Marijuana Herald reported that without new legislation, those businesses would face the new restrictions starting Nov. 14.

S4635 strikes the Nov. 13 date in each place it appears and substitutes the "federal compliance date." The bill defines that as "December 11, 2026, or the date upon which the federal definition of hemp" in Section 781 of the federal law that changed the definition, Public Law 119-37, takes effect for the listed products, "whichever is later." It adds that "notwithstanding the expiration, repeal, or lapse of any federal appropriation or federal continuing resolution measure, the federal compliance date shall not be earlier than December 11, 2026."

The bill also deletes a provision in the 2025 state hemp law, P.L.2025, c.215, under which the section allowing ABC and CRC licensees to sell the beverages would expire on Nov. 13, 2026. And it extends, to the same federal compliance date, a separate allowance for state-authorized hemp producers to possess or transport intermediate hemp-derived products above 0.3% THC while that material is still being processed and is not meant for human or animal use. If signed, the bill would take effect immediately.

What stays the same

The bill does not loosen the state's existing rules on hemp beverages. The Marijuana Herald reported that age limits, product testing requirements and the ban on online sales would remain in place.

The current rules, which appear unchanged in the bill text, limit intoxicating hemp beverages sold since May 31, 2026, to two container types: a can with no more than 10 milligrams of total THC, or a resealable 750-milliliter bottle holding 40 servings of 5 milligrams each, or no more than 200 milligrams in total. Each sale must come with a certificate of analysis from an independent lab that is registered with the Drug Enforcement Administration and ISO 17025 accredited. Selling the beverages online or from vending machines is illegal. Violations carry the same criminal penalties as marijuana under state law, plus civil penalties that start at $100 and rise to at least $10,000 for a third or later violation.

The federal deadline behind it

The bill's official statement explains why lawmakers acted. In November 2025, the federal government amended the definition of marijuana to include hemp above a total THC standard of 0.3% on a dry weight basis, along with derivatives and certain hemp products. When those changes take effect, the statement says, "the production of certain hemp products, including intoxicating hemp beverages, will generally be prohibited."

According to the statement, the federal change was first scheduled to take effect Nov. 13, 2026. In September 2026, Congress passed a continuing resolution that partially delayed it to Dec. 11, 2026. Under that split, the statement says, products with cannabinoids the cannabis plant cannot produce naturally become marijuana under federal law in mid-November, while products with naturally produced cannabinoids remain allowed "until at least December 11, 2026." The statement uses Nov. 13 for that first date. Earlier Hemp Law Watch reporting, citing the Congressional Research Service, put it at Nov. 12.

"To accommodate potential further federal delays," the statement says, the bill lets state law follow federal changes "whenever they become effective." The Marijuana Herald noted this means New Jersey would not need to pass another extension if Congress delays the federal date again.

Reaction

Heady NJ reported opposition from New Jersey Cannabis Trade Association Executive Director Todd Johnson. "This is, by my account, the 4th or 5th time in the past 2 years that the legislature has moved swiftly to provide statutory relief or flexibility to the alcohol and unregulated hemp industries," Johnson said, according to Heady NJ. He also said, "A month extension of a federal ban is not worth fighting," while arguing that lawmakers should "recognize the disparity in which urgency is applied."

Johnson also said, according to Heady NJ, that the state's licensed cannabis industry has "created 12,000 new jobs, over 400 brand new licensed businesses and generated over $270 million in tax revenue." Heady NJ reported that no alcohol or hemp lobbyist testified.

Cost to the state

A fiscal estimate dated Oct. 26 from the Office of Legislative Services (OLS) found an "indeterminate" effect on annual state revenue. Some provisions could raise revenue by increasing sales, and others could lower it, the OLS wrote. It said the amount depends on "when, or if," the products become prohibited under federal law. The OLS prepared the estimate itself because the executive branch did not respond to its request for a fiscal note.

What happens next

The bill now goes to Gov. Sherrill. The Marijuana Herald reported that her signature is the final step for it to become law. Hemp Law Watch first reported on S4635 when the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced it on Oct. 15.

This report is for general information and is not legal advice.