“We have to make sure that we don’t have unintended consequences, and destroy things that do not need to be destroyed.”
By Rebecca Rivas, Missouri Independent
A push for Missouri to immediately adopt planned federal limits on intoxicating hemp products ran into a filibuster in the state Senate Wednesday, with critics demanding any changes wait until national regulations go into effect in November.
Democratic state Sen. Karla May of St. Louis led the two-hour filibuster of a bill that would immediately ban hemp-derived THC beverages and edibles as soon as the legislation was passed and signed into law.
May argued during a Senate debate Wednesday that the federal limits will likely change before they’re enacted later this year. Congress passed the provision to ban these products as part of the federal spending package last year.
She offered an amendment that would align the Senate bill with a proposal sponsored in the House by Republican state Rep. Dave Hinman of O’Fallon to allow Missouri to sell the products if Congress permits them nationwide.
Hinman’s bill has cleared a House committee and is ready to be debated by the full chamber.
“When Congress voted on this whole thing, this was just literally to reopen the government,” May said. “I mean, this wasn’t even a thoughtful conversation.”
The bill debated Wednesday evening, sponsored by Republican state Sen. David Gregory of Chesterfield, would prohibit hemp products from containing more than 0.4 milligrams of THC per container and more than a total THC concentration of .3 percent on a dry weight basis, rather than only delta-9 THC. These mirror the federal limits.
Intoxicating hemp products with as much as 1,000mg of THC are being sold in smoke shops—outside of Missouri’s licensed marijuana dispensaries — and they aren’t regulated by any government agency. Missouri lawmakers have failed to pass legislation regulating these products since 2023.
Gregory argues his bill and the federal provision close loopholes that were opened when Congress legalized hemp in the 2018 Farm Bill.
“My bill continues with Congress’s intent from three months ago, and of course, our great folks of Missouri’s intent,” Gregory said, “which is: if it is intoxicating from the cannabis plant, it is marijuana and must be highly regulated under these specific rules.”
May has been a consistent critic of attempts to put a complete ban on intoxicating hemp products, arguing that they just need to be regulated.
May said the amendment she offered Wednesday to Gregory’s bill was a “good compromise” because it would still align state and federal rules if Congress rewrites the federal limits.
“It’s not getting rid of your language,” May told Gregory. “And if [Congress does] nothing, your language will be the law of the land for Missouri.”
Gregory said her amendment went a “little too far” for him because Missouri would just be doing “whatever the feds tell us.” He said these products must be regulated urgently to protect children.
After more than two hours of discussion, the Senate was forced to adjourn when it couldn’t get enough lawmakers in the chamber to achieve a quorum.
State officials estimated in 2024 that 40,000 food establishments and smoke shops and 1,800 food manufacturers were selling products that would be banned under the proposed federal regulations. It includes low-dose THC seltzers, such as Mighty Kind and Triple, that have increased in popularity at liquor stores and bars.
May said lawmakers need to consider these businesses when making decisions.
“It’s a complicated situation,” May said. “And I think that we have to make sure that we don’t have unintended consequences, and destroy things that do not need to be destroyed.”
Hinman told The Independent Thursday that he spent about 20 hours working on his bill this week so it hopefully wouldn’t run into as many roadblocks as Gregory experienced in a full-chamber debate.
“There’s so many ifs involved in this,” Hinman said, “and trying to legislate that is really difficult.”
There are three potential scenarios, he said, that could happen before November, when the federal limits are set to go into effect.
The feds could stay the course with the current limits, he said, which “puts all of the hemp businesses out of business.” Congress could redefine what hemp is, and change the .4 milligram of THC per container limit to permit low-dose THC beverages and edibles.
“So in that case, we’re looking to see what would happen if they just modify that piece of the puzzle,” he said.
The third option is if Congress approves a two-year extension, he said, and “kick it down the can.” That would mean Missouri would need to put some kind of regulation in the meantime, he said.
“We’re trying to write legislation that effectively would cover all three of those things,” he said, “So that’s what these tough negotiations are all about is trying to accomplish the goal of letting everyone succeed in this marketplace, if it’s possible by federal law.”
This story was first published by Missouri Independent.
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