On April 10, 2025, the Alabama House of Representatives voted to legalize the sale of hemp-derived psychoactive cannabis products, popularly known as “gas station weed.”
While I appreciate the awareness that the discussion around this bill, HB445, has brought to these products that are regularly marketed to minors, it is still stunning that with just five minutes of discussion, the Republican supermajority – in what I believe to be the most conservative state in America – gave the green light to recreational drug use, complete with taxation, regulation, and storefront distribution.
The stated initial intent of the bill was to deal with a real problem that we currently have in Alabama, which is that hemp has small amounts of psychoactive components and is federally allowed to be sold as long as it does not contain more than 0.3% Delta-9 THC on a dry weight basis. As long as companies just concentrate that low percentage, converting raw components to other psychoactive cannabinoids, users get addicted, profits keep coming, and law enforcement can do nothing about it.
Instead of simply closing this loophole, created by the 2018 Congressional Farm Bill, and outlawing the products, HB445 “regulates” it, giving government a share of the profits. There are labeling provisions and other stipulations, but at the end of the day … it is still marijuana. There are also no active enforcement provisions for roadside testing and no plan to track the inevitable damage caused by the drugs.
One of the most concerning elements of HB445 is that having these drugs readily available has led and likely will continue to lead to an increase in DUIs – and the deadly results. Make no mistake: 2022 was already the first year in Alabama history where accidents caused by THC impairment exceeded those caused by alcohol. This is not hypothetical. The data is real, and the damage is mounting.
Pastors, families and churches across Alabama should be deeply grieved. Once we legalize the sale of psychoactive substances to the general public, there’s predictable results. More addiction. More regret. More broken families, and more demand for rehab centers. More lives snuffed out on our roadways.
HB445 legalizes, normalizes and commercializes the sale of synthetic marijuana for recreational purposes in Alabama. This is something that legislators said would never happen while approving marijuana for medicinal purposes in 2021. The law sets up a licensing structure under the Alabama ABC Board, includes a 7% excise tax, and distributes profits between the state general fund and local governments. In my opinion, all tax revenue from such regulation should go to enforcement and to victims of these dangerous and even deadly products.
This bill proposes growing government on the backs of those who are addicted to destructive behaviors – just like the alcohol and gambling lobby has promoted for years. Why do we keep going down the road of Montgomery profiting from citizens’ pain and addiction?
The passage of HB445 represents more than just a policy failure, it’s a moral and cultural failure. Did the citizens of Alabama vote for a Republican supermajority so that this could happen? Do Alabama voters want to expand government and increase addiction in our state? I don’t think so.
Thankfully, State Sens. Dan Roberts (R-Mountain Brook) and April Weaver (R-Brierfield) have filed legislation to ban these potent THC products outright via SB274 and SB273. Their bills would criminalize THC (regardless of the source), protect our children, and restore sanity to Alabama law. Their efforts deserve both support and urgency.
We need a principled government that doesn’t take advantage of people chained with addiction on the altar of tax revenue. I am calling on conservative Alabamians to compel your legislators to reverse course on this issue rather than normalizing psychoactive drugs in our communities.
The Alabama Senate has a chance to course correct by simply passing a ban on THC in Alabama and closing the loopholes. Alabama is unapologetically conservative, and it is time for the legislature to uncompromisingly prohibit drug dealers from partnering with the government and operating freely in our state.
Rev. Greg Davis is the president and CEO of ALCAP.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to [email protected].
Don't miss out! Subscribe to our newsletter and get our top stories every weekday morning.
