Bill To Restrict Intoxicating Hemp Products To Only Marijuana Dispensaries In St. Louis County, Missouri Dies Without A Vote

“After engaging with stakeholders and hearing a lot of thoughtful discussion between stakeholders and also the council, I have come to the conclusion that there is not a pathway at this time or a consensus to move forward on this.”

By Rebecca Rivas, Missouri Independent

A St. Louis County, Missouri bill aimed at preventing intoxicating cannabis products from being sold outside of dispensaries is dead, after meeting heavy resistance from retailers and distributors.

St. Louis County Councilwoman Lisa Clancy, the bill sponsor, dropped the bill during the council’s Tuesday meeting.

“After engaging with stakeholders and hearing a lot of thoughtful discussion between stakeholders and also the council, I have come to the conclusion that there is not a pathway at this time or a consensus to move forward on this,” Clancy said during the meeting.

Clancy said she’s hopeful state legislators will address the “very serious public health and safety issues” when they reconvene in January.

State law prohibits marijuana products from being sold outside of dispensaries.

However, thousands of gas stations and other stores statewide currently sell THC products—such as gummies, beverages and vapes—that get people high the same way that marijuana does.

The difference, producers say, is that the products are made from hemp. Lab and cannabis experts testified last week before the council that there’s no way to ensure these products aren’t made from black-market marijuana without a track-and-track system like the one that’s required for regulated marijuana.

While some liquor stores—including Total Wine—have self-imposed age restrictions on purchasing the beverages, there’s no government agency regulating the products—and that includes who can buy them.

For the past three years, Missouri lawmakers have debated legislation that would put all THC products under the same regulatory framework as marijuana. The proposals were met by fierce opposition, particularly from associations representing convenience stores, hemp companies and veterans.

This past spring, Republican state Sen. Nick Schroer of Defiance offered a proposal that carved out an exception for low-dose THC beverages, which have been sold in Missouri’s bars and liquor stores for seven years. It still required things like high-dose gummies, THCA flower and vapes to only be sold in marijuana dispensaries.

Schroer’s bill was filibustered by state Sen. Karla May and other St. Louis Democratic senators, who argued that it would create a monopoly for the marijuana industry and harm small businesses.

Hemp naturally has very little THC, the intoxicating component mostly associated with marijuana. But that potency can be increased with some science.

While marijuana, from seed to final product, is governed by a state regulatory regime, intoxicating hemp products have been completely unregulated by any governmental agency since 2018—when Congress passed a Farm Bill that legalized hemp.

If enacted, Clancy’s bill would’ve effectively banned those products in Missouri’s largest county.

Clancy dropped the bill just before another council member was going to offer a substitute draft.

Earlier in the day, the Missouri Cannabis Trade Association urged Clancy and other council members to drop the bill.

“We appreciate the efforts of local elected officials in St. Louis County to prevent more area kids from buying and using these unregulated products,” said Andrew Mullins, executive director of MoCannTrade, “but it is becoming clearer that it’s Missouri state government that needs to lead the way on this public safety issue.”

Mullins asked the council to withdraw the measure and join the association in Jefferson City to lobby for regulations.

“While a patchwork of regulations and bans across Missouri’s 114 counties is certainly better than the current wild west reality,” he said, “it wouldn’t give parents, teachers and law enforcement the peace of mind they need to hold the bad actors selling and making these products accountable.”

Clancy said if the state fails to take action again next year, then the council “may re-evaluate and reconsider.”

“I’m hopeful that the state will pick this up and their session this coming winter,” she said. “I think all of us on the council will be watching it carefully.”

This story was first published by Missouri Independent.