The bill would move the state's November 13 cutoff for liquor-store sales of intoxicating hemp beverages to December 11 or the federal compliance date, whichever is later.
NORTHEAST, October 23, 2026: The New Jersey Senate voted 37-0 on Thursday to extend the state's deadline for selling intoxicating hemp beverages, replacing the current November 13 cutoff with December 11, 2026 or the date federal hemp restrictions take effect, whichever is later, according to The Marijuana Herald.
The bill, S4635, is sponsored by Senate President Nicholas Scutari. Businesses licensed by the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control or the Cannabis Regulatory Commission could keep selling until the new date, and the deadline would follow any further federal delay without another state extension. THC limits, lab testing, packaging and sales restrictions would not change. The bill would also give authorized hemp producers more time to possess or transport intermediate hemp-derived cannabinoid products above 0.3% THC during processing.
The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced S4635 10-0, with one member not voting, on October 15. The same day, the Assembly State and Local Government Committee advanced the companion bill, A5604, sponsored by Assemblymember Robert Karabinchak, 7-0. The Marijuana Herald reported that A5604 is now in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. If both chambers pass the measure and Gov. Mikie Sherrill signs it, it would take effect immediately. The bill is not law, and November 13 remains the deadline under current state law.
A federal continuing resolution enacted in September delayed most new federal hemp restrictions to December 11. Scarinci Hollenbeck said in an August alert that a federal extension does not change New Jersey's statute, which keeps the November 13 date unless the Legislature amends it. Sources differ by a day on the existing cutover: the law allows sales through November 13, while the Cannabis Regulatory Commission's FAQ says products above 0.4mg total THC per container become cannabis starting November 14.
In Connecticut, the General Assembly's bill analysis for HB 5350 lists an October 1 effective date for 5mg per-container limits at package stores and 10mg at dispensary facilities and other retailers. That analysis describes the committee version of the bill, and no post-October 1 guidance has been published. In New York, hemp beverages sold outside dispensaries remain limited to 1mg per serving and 10mg per package. In Pennsylvania, Sen. Dawn Keefer's proposed Hemp and Cannabinoid Act remains a cosponsorship memo.
Forma works embedded on hemp and THC beverage formulation and commercial scale-up, from compliant dosing and label claims through co-packer qualification. This wire is a byproduct of the same regulatory tracking that informs that work.
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