Senate debates access to hemp-based consumable products including drinks

• Lawmakers in Mississippi look to rein in products containing THC in state convenience stores and other locations where they are currently being sold.

A bill regulating hemp-based products in Mississippi has passed the floor of the Senate after much legislative wrangling within the chamber this week.

If it becomes law, the measure would remove all consumable products that contain THC from store shelves, except for drinks, if it becomes law. 

On Tuesday, State Senator Kevin Blackwell (R) introduced a strike-all to HB 1502, inserting the language from SB 2314. While discussing the bill, Blackwell passed around products currently found on gas station and convenience store shelves for senators’ review, advising them not to open or consume them. He asked his colleagues to note how advertising on the packaging is geared toward children, one of which was similar to the popular candy Nerds.

Products passed around the Senate floor contained varying amounts of THC, with one containing about 250 milligrams and two others containing about 60 milligrams each of the intoxicating substance.

“All of those are way above what we allow in the medical cannabis program,” Blackwell said.

The current limit on medical cannabis products sold in approved dispensaries within Mississippi is 30 percent for flower products and 60 percent for concentrates.

Renamed the “Mississippi Hemp Act” through the strike-all, the amended House bill would outlaw all products containing any amount of naturally occurring THC from convenience and CBD stores. HB 1502 would have allowed the products to contain up to 0.3 percent THC.

State Rep. Lee Yancey (R), author of HB 1502, said the strike-all as it left the Senate will no longer allow any percentage of THC in those products, and will also ban Delta 8, Delta 10, THC 0, HHC, and other synthetic cannabinoids. Yancey told Magnolia Tribune products that contain CBD will not be affected.

The legislation does allow for the sale of hemp-based drinks that contain up to 5 milligrams of THC per 12 ounce can. Only adults aged 21 or older will be allowed to purchase the hemp-based drinks.

Since the bill reclassifies all beer and light wine into the category of “intoxicating beverages,” under which hemp drinks will also fall, the bill changes the state’s current law pertaining to the legality of alcohol consumption for persons under 21 while in the presence of their parent or guardian. Under current state law, a person between the age of 18 to 20 can have an alcoholic drink if they are in the presence of their parent or guardian. 

State Senator Daniel Sparks (R) expressed opposition to any products containing THC being sold in convenience stores, including hemp-based drinks. However, Sparks was also opposed to removing the alcohol exemption for persons under 21 when in the presence of their parent or guardian. 

“This bill takes that away.” Sparks described. “So, that loving moment in that family film ‘(National Lampoon’s) Vacation’ when Clark W. Griswald was sitting with Russ out in the desert and he said, ‘Let’s share this beer, son,’ and the boy just knocked the bottom out of it, you’ll never get to see that anymore in Mississippi.”

Sparks told his colleagues that the bill is a step towards recreational cannabis in the state, something he opposes. 

Yancey and Blackwell both say alcoholic beverages are more harmful than the hemp-based drinks.  

“This is one of the weakest hemp drinks in the country,” Yancey told Magnolia Tribune. “It is much, much less potent than alcohol. It would be regulated like alcohol, and it would fall below the standards set by the 2018 Farm Bill.”

Sparks’ initial effort on Tuesday to place a reverse repealer in the bill through an amendment was adopted by a 25-24 roll call vote. But on Wednesday, Blackwell attempted to have the reverse repealer removed by reintroducing the bill on the Senate floor through a motion to reconsider. Sparks again introduced the amendment to include the reverse repealer on Wednesday, which was adopted through a vote of 30-21.

The bill passed the floor of the Senate with a vote of 35-16 on Wednesday. The reverse repealer will ensure the bill is brought to conference to hash out details between the Senate and House.