“We’re not pioneering anything new here. What Missouri is doing…is simply aligning our state statutes with the federal action.”
By Rebecca Rivas, Missouri Independent
The Missouri House approved a bill Thursday that would ban all intoxicating hemp products—things like THC seltzers or hemp-derived THC edibles currently sold at gas stations and smoke shops—beginning in November.
The bill, sponsored by Republican state Rep. Dave Hinman of O’Fallon, would prohibit hemp products from containing more than 0.4 milligrams of THC per container, which is among the limits included in a provision in the federal spending bill Congress approved last year.
Even if Congress reverses course and decides to allow the sale of these products, Hinman’s bill would only permit them to be sold in Missouri’s licensed marijuana dispensaries. And if Congress chooses to delay the ban for a couple years, Missouri would still ban all products, except for intoxicating beverages.
With a 109-34 vote, the bill now heads to the Senate for its consideration.
“We’re not pioneering anything new here,” Hinman said during debate on his bill Thursday. “What Missouri is doing…is simply aligning our state statutes with the federal action so our law enforcement, the highway patrol, local prosecutors and the attorney general’s office can work in tandem with our federal partners. No gaps, no loopholes.”
Republican State Rep. Matthew Overcast of Ava spoke against the bill, particularly a provision stating intoxicating hemp products “shall be considered marijuana” and be regulated the same.
This would essentially ban nearly all intoxicating hemp products currently sold in the state because marijuana must be grown in Missouri and most hemp is grown elsewhere. It would also require hemp products to be sold in licensed cannabis dispensaries, which can only sell product grown within Missouri licensed cultivation facilities.
Overcast argued that Missouri’s constitution already defines what marijuana is, and only voters can change that definition—not lawmakers. And while proponents say the changes are needed to protect children from accessing these products, Overcast said, the reality is the bill will only protect the marijuana industry from competition.
“We cannot rewrite voter adopted language by statute simply because certain market participants prefer less competition,” Overcast said. “If protecting children was truly the goal, we know what works: age restrictions, standards, clear labeling, packaging safeguards, responsible retail rules.”
Hinman said he believes Missouri lawmakers have the authority to make this change.
“The [Missouri] Constitution defines marijuana broadly as anything from the cannabis plant except for industrial hemp,” Hinman said. “Hemp-derived cannabinoid products are not industrial hemp. They are intoxicating.”
Overcast also argued the bill doesn’t allow Missouri to continue to align with federal guidelines. If Congress passed legislation allowing states to sell intoxicating hemp products outside of marijuana dispensaries, Overcast said Missouri businesses would not be able to because Hinman’s bill only allows them to be sold within what he called the “marijuana monopoly.”
“That is not public safety, that is not safety policy,” he said. “This is picking winners and losers.”
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.
Hinman’s legislation is one of the first bills to get House approval this year. He previously told The Independent the legislation was a priority for the state’s leadership, including the governor, attorney general and House speaker.
This will be the fourth year in a row that Missouri lawmakers have attempted to regulate intoxicating hemp products, with previous debates ending in stalemates.
Hinman told The Independent Thursday afternoon that he considers himself to be “pro small business,” and this wasn’t the bill he was hoping to pass this year—but it aligns the state with the upcoming federal restrictions.
“All of last year and up until before this federal decision was made, I was pushing to keep drinks and low-dose gummies available for those small businesses to sell,” he said.
For 10 months last year, he said he tried to bring hemp business owners together to propose a regulatory framework outside of the marijuana rules.
“And they could not come to a conclusion on what would be acceptable,” Hinman said.
Restricting the products to only be sold in cannabis dispensaries was also not his preference, he said, but it’s the regulatory framework the state already has in place.
His original language stated Missouri would delay its ban if the federal government did, but he said that would unintentionally leave the products unregulated in the state indefinitely.
“And then we’re back to trying to create a regulatory framework for hemp products,” he said. “The attorney general was not happy because she wants something accomplished. And of course, the police do…their hands are tied with continuing with an unregulated market.”
If Congress decided to allow low-dose THC hemp products to be sold outside dispensaries, he said Missouri would have to come back and pass legislation allowing that.
Republican state Rep. Jeff Myers of Warrenton spoke in favor of closing loopholes that were opened when Congress legalized hemp in the 2018 Farm Bill.
“All we’re saying is the federal government went back and addressed a loophole that got exploited,” he said. “We’re closing that back up.”
This story was first published by Missouri Independent.
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