Rhode Island Hemp Drinks Ban Bill Scaled Back To Instead Request Officials Make Recommendations For Intoxicating Product Rules

“Any potential updates would follow a thoughtful and transparent process, with stakeholder input and public engagement.”

By Christopher Shea, Rhode Island Current

A proposed ban on hemp-derived THC beverages has morphed into a request for state regulators to recommend how to handle the products by next March, under a joint resolution that cleared the House Committee on Corporations in a 10–0 vote Monday.

The resolution sponsored by Rep. Scott Slater, a Providence Democrat, requests that the state’s Cannabis Control Commission come up with recommendations on dosage limits, packaging standards, labeling requirements, licensing conditions and other ways to ensure children don’t accidentally consume the intoxicating drinks.

“One of the major reasons for passing the [2022] cannabis act was to have recreational [cannabis] safe and tested,” Slater said in an interview Monday.

Slater’s bill is scheduled for a vote by the full House chamber on Wednesday.

Hemp has been legal at the federal level since 2018 and, by itself, produces little to no THC (the compound most commonly associated with cannabis intoxication) content and is typically non-psychoactive when first harvested—unlike other cannabis plants. But with the magic of chemistry, delta-8 and delta-9 THC can be produced.

Delta-9 THC is a naturally-occurring cannabinoid within cannabis plants and often more potent than synthetic delta-8 products, which are unregulated.

THC drinks derived from hemp were illegal in Rhode Island until August 2024, when the state’s Office of Cannabis Regulation began allowing the sale of products containing low levels of delta-9 THC at licensed retailers, including vape shops and liquor stores.

Slater’s original legislation called on the state to ban hemp-derived THC beverages until regulators could craft new rules under the 2022 law that legalized recreational cannabis, a stance he said he still personally holds. But he said it’s important that state regulators collect data before further legislative action is taken.

Connecticut last July mandated THC-infused drinks be available only at state-licensed liquor stores and cannabis retailers. Massachusetts regulators, meanwhile, declared last May that intoxicating hemp-based products cannot be sold outside of cannabis retail stores.

Members of Rhode Island’s recreational cannabis industry for the most part have been against allowing THC products to be sold outside licensed pot shops. The liquor industry supports the legalization of hemp-derived drinks, but only if they’re sold from their stores.

Both sides made their stances clear when the House Committee on Corporations held its initial hearing on Slater’s bill May 15.

“THC belongs to the cannabis cultivator, not the liquor store,” Armand Lusi, owner of Evergreen Gardens in Warwick, told lawmakers.

But Nicholas Fede Jr., executive director for the Rhode Island Liquor Operators Collaborative, wrote to lawmakers that beverage alcohol retailers are “perfectly set up and equipped” to handle intoxicating drinks and that a number of stores already sell hemp-derived drinks with success.

“They are already trained to detect the effects of intoxicating substances when interacting with consumers and are specialists in regulating when and when not to serve clients,” he wrote.

Fede pointed to a separate bill sponsored by Rep. Jacquelyn Baginski, a Cranston Democrat, as the correct solution. Bagiski’s legislation would declare it legal for licensed distributors to sell beverages containing up to 5 mg of delta-9 THC at liquor stores, bars and restaurants.

Her bill remains held for further study by the House Committee on Corporations, which held its initial hearing for the legislation on April 8. However, companion legislation by Sen. Robert Britto, an East Providence Democrat, is scheduled for a vote by the Senate Committee on Judiciary Wednesday afternoon—along with a proposed ban on assault-style weapons.

Should the General Assembly approve Slater’s resolution, state regulators intend to carry out lawmakers’ directive, Cannabis Control Commission spokesperson Charon Rose said in an email Monday.

“The commission is committed to ensuring public health, safety, and regulatory clarity in Rhode Island’s cannabis and hemp markets,” Rose wrote. “Any potential updates would follow a thoughtful and transparent process, with stakeholder input and public engagement.”

This story was first published by Rhode Island Current.

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