Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed emergency regulations aimed at reining in the manufacture and sale of illegal hemp products that contain intoxicating cannabinoids such as THC.

The new rules would close loopholes that manufacturers in the “intoxicating hemp” industry have exploited to skirt restrictions on hemp products, allowing them to sell consumable goods with heavily inebriating effects, Newsom’s office said in a statement Friday morning.

The products have become widely available at some smoke shops, gas stations and other retailers in recent years.

The regulations would require that such products contain no detectable levels of THC — the main psychoactive component in cannabis — or other cannabinoids, that packages of the products are limited to five servings and that their sale is restricted to people 21 or older.

“We’re taking action to close loopholes and increase enforcement to prevent children from accessing these dangerous hemp and cannabis products,” Newsom said in the statement.

Once the regulations are approved by the state Office of Administrative Law, they will go into effect immediately, after which sellers will be required to restrict purchases in accordance with the changes and pull noncompliant hemp products from their shelves.

State and local law enforcement agencies and state regulatory agencies including the departments of Public Health, Cannabis Control, Alcoholic Beverage Control, and Tax and Fee Administration will immediately begin enforcing the new rules after they are approved, according to Newsom’s statement.

The governor introduced the proposed regulations weeks after Assembly Bill 2223, a state bill that would have instituted similar changes, died in committee.

The new rules are a response “to increasing health incidents related to illegal hemp products, which state regulators have found sold across the state, especially beverages and food products. Children are particularly at risk should they consume these products,” Newsom’s statement Friday said.

In 2021, Newsom signed a state law that capped the concentration of THC in hemp-containing food, beverages and cosmetics at 0.3%, and instituted requirements for labeling and testing of such goods. The goal, his office said at the time, was to allow for nonintoxicating hemp products to be legally and safely sold.

In the intervening years, some manufacturers have found ways to make hemp products that intoxicate consumers without running afoul of the 2021 requirements.

“We will not sit on our hands as drug peddlers target our children with dangerous and unregulated hemp products containing THC at our retail stores,” Newsom said in the statement.