Rhode Island regulators draft rules that could ban hemp-derived THC drinks at bars, sparking debate with hospitality businesses over safety and consumption.
The Rhode Island Cannabis Control Commission rolled out its draft regulations for intoxicating hemp beverages during a Zoom meeting with stakeholders Monday. The draft calls for banning the drinks at businesses licensed for on-site alcohol consumption, state certification of labs testing intoxicating hemp beverages outside the state, and changes to the tax structure around hemp beverages. They got some feedback.
Last June, Lawmakers charged the Commission with drafting the regulations, with finalized regulations to be submitted to the General Assembly by March 1. Since the state Office of Cannabis Regulation approved preliminary rules for hemp beverage sales last August, about 120 businesses have been licensed as retailers.
Until now, those licensed retailers have included bars, restaurants, and nightclubs, as well as retail marijuana outlets, and state hospitality and liquor industry representatives loudly opposed the proposed ban during the Zoom meeting.
"Putting hemp THC-derived beverages on premise at a restaurant or bar is actually the safest way to consume these products," said Ryan Moot, manager of business development and government affairs for the Rhode Island Hospitality Association, told regulators.
Commission staff provided no answers for why they are recommending a ban on sales at businesses allowing on-site alcohol consumption.
All intoxicating hemp beverages sold in Rhode Island are manufactured and tested outside the state. The Commission is recommending that out-of-state testing still be allowed but that the labs doing the testing should be certified by the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH).
"RIDOH has similar requirements for other industries — for example: water," said Carla Aveledo, chief of policy for the Commission. "Further recommendations would be to have hemp-derived THC beverages to be tested to the cannabis equivalent standards. That would include pesticides, heavy metals, residual solvents, cannabinoid profiles, and microcontaminants."
Industry representatives seemed to have no problem with that proposal.
Rhode Island's existing regulations already limit hemp-derived THC to 1 mg per serving or 5 mg per package. The Commission did not propose new limits, saying instead that the Office of Cannabis Regulations should "establish a standard THC limit per can" and "establish a limit for the maximum amount of THC a single consumer can purchase at one time."
The Commission did not address the looming federal "hemp ban," which would limit intoxicating hemp products to 0.4 mg of THC once it goes into effect in November. (There are efforts underway in Congress to both replace the ban with regulations and to push back the effective date by another year or two years.).
But Cannabis Administrator Michelle Reddish acknowledged "potential changes at the national level" and that state regulators have been meeting with their regional counterparts to come up with a plan. "There are so many thoughts and ideas of what’s going to happen," Reddish said. "But it’s still too very early."
Hemp farmer Mike Simpson, co-founder of Lovewell Farms in Hopkinton, said it was hypocritical to insist that hemp-derived THC follow federal laws. "Our state already violates all federal laws when it comes to THC in cannabis," Simpson said "I’m not sure why all of a sudden … we need to follow the law when it comes to hemp cannabis. There’s a lot of hard work we’ve put in building this industry in the state," he added.