{"id":77833,"date":"2024-09-18T10:00:29","date_gmt":"2024-09-18T18:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2024\/09\/18\/missouri-regulators-narrow-scope-of-intoxicating-hemp-product-ban-to-focus-on-misbranded-products\/"},"modified":"2024-09-18T19:45:48","modified_gmt":"2024-09-19T03:45:48","slug":"missouri-regulators-narrow-scope-of-intoxicating-hemp-product-ban-to-focus-on-misbranded-products","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2024\/09\/18\/missouri-regulators-narrow-scope-of-intoxicating-hemp-product-ban-to-focus-on-misbranded-products\/","title":{"rendered":"Missouri Regulators Narrow Scope Of Intoxicating Hemp Product Ban To Focus On \u2018Misbranded\u2019 Products"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

\u201cIn light of yesterday\u2019s letter, hemp sales are back on.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

By Rebecca Rivas, Missouri Independent<\/strong><\/p>\n

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson\u2019s (R) ban on intoxicating hemp products<\/a> hit another hurdle on Tuesday, resulting in an indefinite pause on a huge part of the effort.<\/p>\n

Richard Moore, general counsel for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, said in a letter<\/a> Tuesday that the state\u2019s health regulators will stop embargoing\u2014or tagging\u2014products simply because they contain hemp-derived THC.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn regard to psychoactive cannabis products, the department will focus its efforts on the identification of\u00a0 \u2018misbranded\u2019 products,\u2019\u201d Moore wrote to the Missouri Hemp Trade Association\u2019s attorney, Chuck Hatfield.<\/p>\n

When Parson signed his executive order on August 1, he said his primary focus was to protect children consuming the products that resemble popular candy, like Lifesavers, but contain the intoxicating compound of the cannabis plant, THC.<\/p>\n

\u201cI trust that you understand that the consumption of these products may be dangerous,\u201d Moore states, \u201cand that under no circumstances should they end up in the hands of Missouri\u2019s children.\u201d<\/p>\n

The department\u2019s effort will now focus on just that\u2014not banning all intoxicating hemp products.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the department identifies any such misbranded products, it will refer those products to the Missouri Attorney General\u2019s Office for\u00a0 potential enforcement under the State\u2019s Merchandising Practices Act,\u201d the letter says.<\/p>\n

The letter comes after the Missouri Hemp Trade Association filed for a temporary restraining order<\/a> against the department on Monday in response to the department inspecting a VFW post on September 11<\/a>, Hatfield said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe asked for the [temporary restraining order],\u201d Hatfield said, \u201cand in response, we got this letter, which is the same thing we would have accomplished with the [temporary restraining order].\u201d<\/p>\n

The motion for the restraining order states that the governor\u2019s order directs the department to \u201cdesignate foods adulterated simply because they contain hemp products, in direct contravention of Missouri law.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Moore\u2019s letter, he acknowledges that state law says, \u201ca food shall not be considered adulterated solely for containing industrial hemp, or an industrial hemp commodity or product.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is the same law fueling the Missouri Hemp Trade Association\u2019s lawsuit<\/a> against the governor\u2019s ban.<\/p>\n

As of September 12, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services officials have inspected 74 establishments this month and found intoxicating products<\/a> at 42 of them, said Lisa Cox, spokeswoman for the department.<\/p>\n

During the visits, inspectors have asked the store owners to destroy the products within the facilities. If they don\u2019t, inspectors tag them as embargoed.<\/p>\n

According to Moore\u2019s letter, all psychoactive cannabis products that the department has tagged as an embargoed product will be referred to the attorney general\u2019s office for evaluation of misbranding violations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe department has no intention at this time to embargo additional psychoactive cannabis products as adulterated,\u201d the letter states. \u201cFurther, within 30 days after referral to the attorney general\u2019s office, the department will release all currently embargoed products and remove all embargo tags.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once embargo tags are removed, it states, such products will not be subject to an embargo as long as there is no court order prohibiting its sale or ordering its destruction.<\/p>\n

\u201cPending further action from the General Assembly as to intoxicating cannabis products,\u201d the letter states, \u201cthe department believes that channeling future enforcement authority via the Merchandising Practices Act is the best way to ensure that Missouri consumers know what they are purchasing and ingesting, and to keep harmful products out of the hands\u00a0 of children.\u201d<\/p>\n

Missouri Hemp Trade Association spokesperson Craig Katz said the association supports the attorney general\u2019s efforts \u201cto prosecute bad actors marketing counterfeit and misbranded hemp products to children.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the appropriate regulatory and law enforcement focus,\u201d Katz said. \u201cWe hope to follow this with a strong legislative effort in 2025 to further assure consumers and other stakeholders that hemp products are safe, tightly regulated, and available to ensure public safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are about 9,000 retailers statewide currently selling hemp-derived beverages and edibles. Hemp industry leaders argue the order also bans products<\/a> that aren\u2019t attractive to children, have gone through lab testing and are only sold to customers 21 and up.<\/p>\n

Hatfield said the association never believed stores should stop selling intoxicating hemp products that don\u2019t market to children. But the department\u2019s Tuesday letter gives the green light to begin sales again, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn light of yesterday\u2019s letter,\u201d Hatfield said, \u201chemp sales are back on.\u201d<\/p>\n

This story was first published by Missouri Independent.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Senate Committee Approves \u2018DOOBIE Act\u2019 To Prevent Agencies From Using Past Marijuana Use To Deny Employment And Security Clearances<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Photo courtesy of Pexels.<\/em><\/p>\n

The post Missouri Regulators Narrow Scope Of Intoxicating Hemp Product Ban To Focus On \u2018Misbranded\u2019 Products<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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\nRead More: Missouri Regulators Narrow Scope Of Intoxicating Hemp Product Ban To Focus On \u2018Misbranded\u2019 Products<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cIn light of yesterday\u2019s letter, hemp sales are back on.\u201d By Rebecca Rivas, Missouri Independent Missouri Gov. Mike Parson\u2019s (R) ban on intoxicating hemp products hit another hurdle on Tuesday, resulting in an indefinite pause on a huge part of the effort. Richard Moore, general counsel for the Missouri DepartmentContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":457,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77833"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/457"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77833"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77833\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77834,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77833\/revisions\/77834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}