Bills adding regulations to hemp-derived THC beverages advance in Missouri legislature

Legislation allowing low-dose intoxicating hemp drinks to continue to be sold in grocery and liquor stores won the approval of committees in both the Missouri House and Senate this week.

A House committee advanced a bill 12 to 5 on Wednesday afternoon, followed the next morning by a 5 to 1 by a Senate committee.

While the bills carve out a place for hemp-THC seltzers to remain on store shelves, both bills ban intoxicating hemp edibles and vapes from being sold outside of marijuana dispensaries.

That point caused some reluctance from House public safety committee members who worried it would harshly impact a number of current Missouri companies that sell those products.

“This is a tough bill to vote on,” said Democratic state Rep. Mark Sharp of Kansas City, who voted in favor. “On the one hand, you’re regulating to the point where you want to keep children safe, especially in our urban areas. But on the other hand, you’re maybe over regulating.”

Sharp and several other lawmakers said they voted in favor to get “more eyes” on the bill when it reaches the full House, while others voted against because they’d prefer other legislation that has been filed this year.

Among the other proposals is the beer wholesalers’ legislation, sponsored by Republican state Rep. Barry Hovis of Whitewater, which lays out regulations only for hemp beverages. Like both the bills approved this week, it would also establish the same three-tier distribution system that the alcohol industry has long abided by.

“I’m against monopolies, always have been,” said Hovis at the Wednesday House committee meeting, “and I still think that with the unknown of what it’s going to cost an independent business has been selling stuff that’s legal under the farm bill already. It could be tripling, quadrupling…”

Under both bills approved this week, all retailers must get a license to sell the beverages. But a key difference is which state agency is tasked with issuing and regulating the licenses.

The Senate bill, sponsored by Republican state Sen. Nick Schroer of Defiance, puts the job in the hands of the Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control, which already regulates liquor retailers, distributors and manufacturers.

The House bill, sponsored by Republican state Rep. Chad Perkins of Bowling Green, will ask the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, which already houses the state’s cannabis regulating agency.

“This isn’t a final product,” Schroer said of his bill in the Senate committee Thursday. “If we’re going to have a regulated industry, implement consumer protections to make sure that the potency that’s on the packaging is exactly what it is. The main point is making sure that our kids don’t have access to this stuff.”

Schroer’s original bill proposed to treat hemp-derived THC edibles, vapes and beverages the same as marijuana — meaning under the Division of Cannabis Regulation’s rules and exclusively sold in dispensaries.

The Missouri Cannabis Trade Association proposed an amendment last month to carve out an exception for beverages, such as THC seltzers sold in cans. It capped the amount of THC at five milligrams per can and excluded drinks made with “synthetic” THC, or THC that has been converted from CBD using a chemical process.

That language is in both the House and Senate bills.

However, Brooklyn Hill, president of the Missouri Hemp Trade Association, said MoCann’s carve out is “not a solution to the problem.”

“This bill will still, even with the hemp beverage carve out, shut down hundreds of Missouri businesses and cost hundreds of Missourians their jobs,” Hill said.

Currently, Delta-8 THC products — including a large variety of drinks that are popular at bars and available at gas stations throughout the state — can be sold in Missouri stores because the intoxicating ingredient is derived from hemp, not marijuana.

Hemp is federally legal, though several states have passed laws to prohibit intoxicating hemp products. Missouri legislators have tried for the past two years to do that as well.

There’s no state or federal law saying teenagers or children can’t buy them or stores can’t sell them to minors — though some stores and vendors have taken it upon themselves to impose age restrictions of 21 and up.

The proposal backed by the hemp association would limit beverages and edibles to 100 mg of THC per serving, saying that some people who use the products medicinally require a higher dose. It directs the Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control to regulate hemp licensees.

The Missouri Hemp Trade Association believes vehemently opposes establishing the three-tier system, saying it would create a monopoly on behalf of the distributors.

The Missouri Independent is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit news organization covering state government, politics and policy.