Missouri lawmakers aim to ban hemp-derived THC products, impacting thousands of businesses and sparking debate over voter rights and public safety.
The Missouri House has approved a bill that would ban all intoxicating hemp products, House Bill 2641. Sponsored by Rep. Dave Hinman (R-O'Fallon), the measure would prohibit hemp products from containing more than 0.4 milligrams per container, effectively killing the market for products such as hemp-derived THC seltzers and edibles.
The bill would go into effect in November, at the same time that federal hemp limits approved in last fall's bill to end the federal shutdown would do so. Even if Congress decides to move from a prohibitionist to a regulatory model before November, such products would only be allowed to be sold in state-licensed marijuana retail outlets. And if Congress votes to delay the ban for two years, as some industry voices are advocating, the state ban would still go into effect.
"We’re not pioneering anything new here," Hinman said during debate on his bill last Thursday. "What Missouri is doing…is simply aligning our state statutes with the federal action so our law enforcement, the highway patrol, local prosecutors and the attorney general’s office can work in tandem with our federal partners. No gaps, no loopholes."
But Rep. Matthew Overcast (R-Ava), opposed the bill, saying it was a legislative overreach to redefine marijuana after voters approved a constitutional amendment defining and legalizing it in 2022.
"We cannot rewrite voter adopted language by statute simply because certain market participants prefer less competition," Overcast said. "If protecting children was truly the goal, we know what works: age restrictions, standards, clear labeling, packaging safeguards, responsible retail rules. "This is not public safety," he said. "This is picking winners and losers."
There are 215 licensed marijuana retailers in the state, but more than 40,000 food establishments and smoke shops and 1,800 food manufacturers selling products that would be banned under the forthcoming federal regulations and the provisions of HB 2461.
The bill now heads to the state Senate, where it could face a tougher fight. A bill that would have immediately banned hemp-derived THC edibles and beverages, Senate Bill 904, hit a roadblock in the Senate last week after opponents led by state Sen. Karla May (D-St. Louis) successfully filibustered it.
State Sen. David Gregory (R-Chesterfield) filed the bill after the US Congress passed restrictive new language around hemp-derived cannabinoids in November, and it contained limitations on them mirroring the federal limits.
The new federal limits define hemp as containing less than 0.3 percent total THC on a dry weight basis instead of measuring only delta-9 THC, which would effectively turn many currently legal hemp cannabinoid products into controlled substances. Similarly, the bill, like the new federal law, limits THC to 0.4 mg per container, which would criminalize even more products. It would have gone into effect immediately.
In leading the charge against the bill, Sen. May argued that the federal limits will likely change before they can go into effect this coming November. "When Congress voted on this whole thing, this was just literally to reopen the government," May said. "I mean, this wasn’t even a thoughtful conversation."
She offered an amendment that would see the Senate Bill adopt the language of Hinman's HB 2641, which would allow broader sales if Congress approved new hemp regulations. But that amendment failed. Now that HB 2641 is coming before the Senate, its backers will have a second shot at getting it implemented.
Intoxicating hemp products with very high dosages—as much as 1,000 mg of THC—are currently unregulated and sold in smoke shops outside the state's licensed marijuana retail system. Lawmakers have been trying to pass legislation to regulate these products since 2023. They're not quite there yet.