Beer Industry Trade Group Calls Out Hemp THC Sector’s ‘Bad Actors’ For Allegedly Marketing To Children

*“You will never see a beer ad that features Santa Clause or the Easter
Bunny.”*

*By Ana Radelat, MinnPost*

The American beer industry has taken aim at makers of THC-infused beverages
and edibles in a campaign that could have reverberations in Minnesota, a
state that sparked a national explosion in the sales of hemp-derived
beverages.

The beer industry, which has seen sales drop—especially among younger
consumers—has joined the marijuana industry in seeking federal regulation
of THC-infused drinks, which are now only regulated by state laws.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) recently shocked the hemp and
THC beverage industries by signing a letter with 38 other state attorneys
general to congressional leaders that urged Congress to clarify the federal
definition of hemp.

The letter said “bad actors” have exploited a “loophole” in the 2018 Farm
Bill that allowed the sale of highly potent, unregulated THC products that
pose a threat to the general public and especially to children.

“Unless Congress acts, this gross distortion of the 2018 Farm Bill’s hemp
provision will continue to fuel the rapid growth of an underregulated
industry that threatens public health and safety and undermines law
enforcement nationwide,” the letter said.

At a recent conference sponsored by Semafor, Brian Crawford, CEO of the
Beer Institute, a trade association that lobbies for the industry, said
beer has been heavily regulated by federal agencies. He said brewers are
subject to marketing, advertising and label regulation and must seek
federal approval for their formulas.

There are age restrictions as well that are strictly enforced, Crawford
said, and beer sales are prohibited to anyone under 21.

Yet Crawford said there are no federal restrictions on THC-infused
products. He said those “bad actors” in the THC beverage and gummy
industries are packaging and marketing products in a way to appeal to
children, including THC Nerd candies that are ultra-high potency THC
edibles.

“You will never see a beer ad that features Santa Clause or the Easter
Bunny,” Crawford said.
*A ‘natural social tonic’ *

An amendment approved in the House Agriculture Committee as it considered a
massive new Farm Bill last year would alter the federal definition of legal
hemp “to only include naturally occurring, naturally derived and
non-intoxicating cannabinoids.”

That means that any cannabinoid manufactured outside a hemp plant would be
outlawed, criminalizing the production of hemp-based gummies, beverages and
other edibles, as well as oils, soaps and other products made from hemp.

Approved in 2022, a Minnesota state law allows for the production and
consumption of hemp-based edibles and other products. But the hemp
amendment in the now-stalled House Farm Bill would make these products
illegal under federal law.

Partisan gridlock in Congress has made it unlikely there would be a new
Farm Bill this year. So, the fight over THC-infused products has shifted to
the agriculture spending bill, one of the appropriations bills Congress is
most likely to approve when the federal shutdown is over.

Jake Bullock, cofounder of Cann THC-beverages that market themselves as
“all natural social tonics,” said he joins Ellison and the other
state attorneys general in supporting regulations that prevent “bad actors”
from making very potent synthetically derived products and the marketing of
any THC-infused products to children.

But he also said overly broad regulations would hurt a $30 billion industry
that employs 330,000 Americans.

“We would be dumping the baby out with the bathwater,” Cann told MinnPost.

Cann’s success exemplifies the exponential growth in the
multi-billion-dollar market of intoxicating substances derived from hemp.

Bullock said he began his business in Venice Beach, California, then
produced his drinks in Minnesota after the state passed its law allowing
the sale of hemp-infused products.

He now sells his drinks in about 30 states and Cann products can be found
in many liquor stores and other retail outlets in Minnesota. Recently that
has included Target.

“The reason consumers like the products is that they work a lot like
alcohol,” Bullock said. “If you like it you can have another one an hour
later.”

Bullock said drinking several cans of Cann can become intoxicating, but
there’s no morning-after hangover. He also said many heavy drinkers have
cut back on their alcohol consumption in favor of his beverages.

Bullock also said Generation Z favored his drinks over alcohol because they
socialize differently than older Americans and are less likely to spend
money in bars.
*A need to address ‘bad actors’ *

The potency in a THC-infused drink depends on how many milligrams of THC
the product contains. State laws vary. In Minnesota, it’s limited to no
more than 10 milligrams. Other states are stricter. Virginia and
Connecticut cap it at 2 milligrams.

Yet Crawford said “bad actors” make drinks with as much as 200 milligrams
of THC “in a 12 ounce can.”

“There is a need to address that,” he said.

Bullock, who also spoke at the Semafor event, told MinnPost he would agree
to capping the THC levels nationally to about 5 milligrams. He also said he
was OK with doing away with synthetic THC—lab-made chemicals designed to
mimic the effects of delta-9 THC, the main psychoactive compound in natural
cannabis.

He said he thinks Ellison “has been misled” into signing a letter that
asked Congress to “act decisively to clarify the (2018) Farm Bill’s
definition of hemp to ensure intoxicating THC products are taken off the
market.”

Analysts say that would kill Minnesota’s THC-infused drink and edibles
market.

Ellison attempted to clarify his position in a statement entitled “Protecting
Minnesota’s THC Industry”. In it, Ellison said he did *not* want the ban of
all THC-infused products but sought federal regulations to “help prevent
out-of-state companies from ignoring Minnesota’s carefully crafted THC
regulations and selling harmful products in our state.”

“Minnesota’s legalization of THC edibles was smart and safety-conscious,
and unfortunately the loophole created by the federal government is
anything but,” Ellison wrote. “As a result, there are highly potent THC
products entering Minnesota that are being marketed to children, and I
won’t stand by and let out-of-state businesses prey on young Minnesotans.”

Yet public comments on the attorney general’s statement pointed out that
the letter he signed would also ban THC-infused products that are
intoxicating and would outlaw a lucrative industry in Minnesota.

“The letter you signed explicitly calls for ‘prohibition on products
containing intoxicating levels of THC—of any kind and no matter how it is
derived,’” one commenter wrote.” Your letter would effectively unwind all
of the good work Minnesota legislators have done over the last five years,
recriminalize THC access for people looking to move past alcohol, and crush
one of the few lifelines brewers have left.”

While the beer industry may seek a crackdown on THC beverages, small
brewers, facing a shrinking market, are increasingly involved in the hemp
beverage market, creating alcohol-free THC-infused drinks.

Meanwhile, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, is urging Congress to delay any
changes for 18 months to allow for a comprehensive study on the best ways
to regulate the hemp industry.

It’s not clear how Paul’s colleagues in Congress will respond.

*This article first appeared on MinnPost and is republished here under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. *

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For Allegedly Marketing To Children appeared first on Marijuana Moment.