Yes, Hemp Pre-rolls Remain Lawful in Georgia (but not THCa Flower)

OG Article By Rod Kight

October 20 2025

The Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA) issued a Declaratory Ruling (DR) on the legal status of hemp prerolls. A copy of the DR is below. 

The bottom line is that hemp “pre-roll cigarettes”, which the DR considers to be “the result of grinding trimmed and dried hemp flower prior to placing the ground flower into a paper cone or other similar wrapping for lighting and inhalation by a consumer“, are lawful provided that they comply with all other hemp laws and regulations, including the “total THC” limit, testing, packaging, labeling, and marketing requirements. 

The DR is a big win for the hemp industry since Georgia’s hemp laws prohibit the sale of “the flowers and leaves of the Cannabis Sativa L. plant, regardless of the total delta-9 THC concentration in such flower or leaves.” In other words, it is illegal to sell or handle hemp flower in the state, even if it is otherwise compliant, without a proper license or registration. The reason the DR allows hemp pre-rolls, despite the state’s prohibition on flower, is that they are sufficiently processed, which means to convert an agricultural commodity into a legally marketable form. Unlike flower, the GDA considers hemp pre-rolls to be “hemp products”. 

Notably, the DR reaffirms that “THCa hemp” is illegal in the state. “THCa hemp” is a term used for harvested hemp in which the delta-9 THC levels are within the 0.3% limit but the THCa levels are more than 0.3%. In order for a hemp pre-roll to be lawful in Georgia, it’s “total THC” must not exceed 0.3%. Under GA law, “total THC” must be calculated to reflect the presence of THCa. This is bad policy, but it is the current state of the law. Given the enormous market demand for THCa hemp we can expect it to be sold on the black market. 

Here is the DR: here