No one complained when state regulators quietly allowed hemp-derived THC beverages to be sold in Rhode Island’s liquor stores late last summer.
But now that state lawmakers are considering codifying the rules, the state’s cannabis cultivators and retailers are speaking out, saying the liquor industry is circumventing stringent guidelines they’ve had to follow to get their psychoactive products to market
A bill sponsored by Rep. Jacquelyn Baginski, a Cranston Democrat, would declare it legal for licensed distributors to sell beverages containing up to 5mg of delta-9 THC at liquor stores, bars, and restaurants. The bill would also increase the fee liquor wholesalers pay for the right to sell these products. Companion legislation is sponsored in the Senate by Robert Britto, an East Providence Democrat.
“The goal of my legislation is to get our arms around the sale of beverages that are already being sold,” Baginski said in an interview. “For every good actor and retailer who goes out and goes through the trouble of requiring that license, there are potentially one or two who have not done that.’”
Existing hemp rules allow the sale of delta-9 THC products such as gummies, lozenges, packaged baked goods, and beverages at licensed retailers. The state now has 120 hemp retailers and distributors, which include businesses headquartered in Colorado, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.
Connecticut last July mandated THC-infused drinks only be available 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.
Under Baginski’s and Britto’s bills, the annual fee paid by liquor wholesalers would increase from $500 to $1,500 to distribute delta-9 THC drinks under rules crafted by the state’s Department of Business Regulation. Bars and restaurants would have to pay $250 a year.
Rhode Island’s seven cannabis dispensaries, meanwhile, pay a yearly $30,000 licensing fee to sell THC products. Those rules are based on regulations crafted by the state’s Cannabis Control Commission.
“Why is one held to all this high regulation, while the other is not?” Magnus Thorsson, a professor at Johnson & Wales University’s Cannabis Entrepreneurship Program, told Rhode Island Current. “It’s not fair and balanced.”
Mike Simpson, co-founder of Lovewell farms in Hopkinton, said he’s fine with liquor stores being allowed to sell hemp products in Rhode Island. He just wishes that hemp growers like himself had a say in the initial legislation.
