When you put these things in the stream of commerce, and you look at 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, there is nothing that says we can’t clearly legislatively address this type of issue.
By Rebecca Rivas, Missouri Independent
A Republican state Senator has filed legislation renewing last spring’s unsuccessful attempt to regulate intoxicating products such as Delta-8 beverages and edibles in Missouri.
Delta-8 THC can be purchased in Missouri stores because the THC ingredient is not marijuana, which is a controlled drug, but hemp. Hemp is legal on the federal level.
No state or federal laws prohibit minors from buying them, or stores from selling them to them. However, some vendors and stores have imposed age restrictions on their products.
There’s also no requirement that they list any potential side effects or even test for THC.
Nick Schroer of O’Fallon, a Republican state senator who chairs the committee overseeing Missouri’s marijuana laws, has said that the products are easily available to children and teenagers.
Schroer: “I have had constituents reach out to me and tell me that their children were hospitalized.”
Schroer’s Bill would give the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services the responsibility to regulate these products. This agency is already responsible for regulating the state’s cannabis program. The products would also have to be sold in DHSS licensed dispensaries. Chad Perkins of Bowling Green, a Republican state representative, filed a bill that is a companion to the House.
Lisa Cox, a spokesperson for DHSS, said that the department doesn’t take a position on proposed legislation.
She said: “However, we do acknowledge the ongoing and potential public health impact” of THC products that are not regulated.
Cox says that in the last few years there has been a rise in the number of children being admitted to hospital due to cannabis exposure.
She said that the department had increased its focus on regulatory mechanisms to protect children and health in order to minimize the contribution of regulated cannabis to incidents like these. As of now, unregulated THC is not protected by any such framework.
Sean Hackman is the president of Missouri Hemp Trade Association. His organization supports measures like prohibiting sales to children and requiring clear instructions for use and rigorous product testing.
Hackman responded to the new legislation by emailing The Independent. “While overdose reports, especially those that involve minors, are deeply concerning, they do not constitute a health emergency, but an opportunity to improve regulation.”
The association is against requiring the department to regulate the products, and requiring that they be sold only in dispensaries.
During the last legislative session , a similar bill introduced by Republican state Rep. Kurtis Gregg of Marshall was stuck in a committee.
During a bill hearing, both Republican lawmakers and Democratic legislators resisted the idea that the hemp industry should be forced under the umbrella DHSS. They said this would allow “marijuana monopoly’ to take over the market, given the limited licenses available for dispensaries.
The state set a limit on the number of licenses it would grant. Initially, 338 licenses were issued to sell marijuana and grow marijuana.
The widespread reports of irregularities regarding the scoring of applications fueled criticism and accusations of insiders building a monopoly. This criticism spilled over into the campaign last year to legalize recreational cannabis, even though it still won voter approval.
Some applicants who did not receive medical marijuana licenses began producing hemp-derived THC.
Critics also expressed concern that, while hemp is legal under federal law, lumping it with controlled substances could lead to lawsuits.
Schroer said that he will be closely monitoring the ongoing case of Robertsville marijuana manufacturer Delta Extraction.
Delta Extraction’s license for manufacturing cannabis products was revoked by the state in November. This came months after a mass recall that removed more than 60,000 items from the shelves. The state claims these products were made illegally with a hemp THC concentrate imported out of the state.
Although hemp is legal on the federal level, state regulators claim that they can regulate marijuana once it contains THC derived from hemp.
The Administrative Hearing Commission has been asked to determine whether Missouri regulators can prohibit licensed marijuana companies from adding hemp-derived THC to Missouri-grown marijuana.
Delta’s lawyers have stated that if the company loses their appeal before the Commission, they will continue to fight for them in court.
Delta will argue that the state does not have any authority to regulate hemp-based products.
In a letter sent to the Department by Delta’s lawyer, Chuck Hatfield recently, he wrote: “The Division of Cannabis Regulating’s regulatory authority is limited to marijuana that is not hemp and does NOT depend on whether THC is produced from it.”
Schroer stated that his proposed legislation will take into consideration the court’s ruling in the case.
He said that “we’re still going use this judicial advice to craft a kind of law compliant to that case law” to protect youth in our state as well as any consumer of such products.
In September, in Arkansas, a federal court sided with the hemp industry in issuing a preliminary injunction against a state law similar to that proposed by Schroer and Perkins to regulate hemp-derived THC.
U.S. district judge Billy Roy Wilson stated that if Arkansas wanted to participate in federal hemp program it couldn’t choose which parts of law it would follow.
Schroer, despite the preliminary court order issued in Arkansas said that he is not convinced that the federal government can prevent state legislators passing laws to regulate intoxicating cannabisoids.
He said that the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution does not prohibit us from clearly legislating this type of matter.
The original publication of this story was by Missouri Independent.
A Canadian study shows that high school students say marijuana is harder to access after legalization for adults
Photo by Pexels.
The original post Missouri bills would regulate Hemp-derived Delta-8 THC like marijuana was first published on Marijuana Moment.
