{"id":85321,"date":"2026-02-04T11:36:49","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T19:36:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2026\/02\/04\/rhode-island-bars-and-restaurants-push-back-on-proposal-to-ban-hemp-thc-drink-sales\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T19:46:37","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T03:46:37","slug":"rhode-island-bars-and-restaurants-push-back-on-proposal-to-ban-hemp-thc-drink-sales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2026\/02\/04\/rhode-island-bars-and-restaurants-push-back-on-proposal-to-ban-hemp-thc-drink-sales\/","title":{"rendered":"Rhode Island Bars And Restaurants Push Back On Proposal To Ban Hemp THC Drink Sales"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

\u201cPutting hemp THC-derived beverages on premise at a restaurant or bar is actually the safest way to consume these products.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

By Christopher Shea, Rhode Island Current<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rhode Island hospitality and liquor industry representatives voiced their opposition to a proposed ban on restaurants and bars serving intoxicating THC beverages during a virtual public hearing with state cannabis regulators Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Approximately 120\u00a0licensed retailers, including restaurants and liquor stores, have been serving hemp-derived THC beverages since\u00a0August 2024, when the state\u2019s Office of Cannabis Regulation began allowing the sale of products containing low levels of delta-9 THC.<\/p>\n

State lawmakers last June charged the Rhode Island Cannabis Control Commission with preparing recommendations for regulating the sale on hemp-derived THC beverages. The commission\u00a0presented\u00a0its draft rules, including a proposed ban, during a Zoom webinar to solicit feedback before submitting the final recommendations to the General Assembly by March 1.<\/p>\n

\u201cPutting hemp THC-derived beverages on premise at a restaurant or bar is actually the safest way to consume these products,\u201d Ryan Moot, manager of business development and government affairs for the Rhode Island Hospitality Association, told regulators.<\/p>\n

Commission staff did not state why they recommend banning sales at businesses that allow on-site consumption.<\/p>\n

Regulators were asked to study and propose what the state should do about hemp-derived drinks, most of which are produced out-of-state. Over the summer, the commission placed a moratorium on new retail licenses for businesses that allow on-site consumption.<\/p>\n

By itself, hemp produces little to no THC, the compound most commonly associated with cannabis intoxication, and is typically non-psychoactive when first harvested, unlike other cannabis plants.<\/p>\n

But its potency can be increased in a laboratory. And unlike cannabis products manufactured in Rhode Island, hemp-derived drinks are all tested at out-of-state facilities with different standards.<\/p>\n

Products made outside Rhode Island would still be tested out-of-of-state under the draft rules<\/a>, but the commission recommends those labs should be certified by the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH).<\/p>\n

\u201cRIDOH has similar requirements for other industries\u2014for example: water,\u201d Carla Aveledo, chief of policy for the commission, said during the seven-minute presentation at the beginning of the 30-minute webinar. \u201cFurther recommendations would be to have hemp-derived THC beverages to be tested to the cannabis equivalent standards. That would include pesticides, heavy metals, residual solvents, cannabinoid profiles, and microcontaminants.\u201d<\/p>\n

That proposal drew no comments from the industry representatives who attended the webinar.<\/p>\n

But a draft recommendation to restructure the tax on hemp-derived products did generate some discussion.<\/p>\n

Existing regulations charge a 7 percent sales tax on hemp products. The commission recommends applying the state\u2019s cannabis tax structure, which adds another 3 percent local cannabis excise tax on top of the existing sales tax. Alternatively, the commission recommends the state place a 15 percent tax on wholesale cost on hemp-derived drinks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat doesn\u2019t really fall in line with the other states that are producing this,\u201d Chris Morgan, CEO of Nice Beverage Co. in Providence, said.<\/p>\n

Massachusetts regulators\u00a0in May 2024\u00a0 restricted the sale of intoxicating hemp-based products to only cannabis retail stores where they are taxed at a rate of 10.75 percent\u2014on top of the state\u2019s 6.25 percent sales tax and up to 3 percent local tax. State lawmakers in the Bay State are now considering a 10.75 percent excise tax on all hemp products.<\/p>\n

As of 2024, Connecticut\u00a0charged a $1 fee\u00a0on each beverage can. That\u2019s on top of the state\u2019s sales tax of 6.35 percent.<\/p>\n

Not mentioned in the commission\u2019s slide deck: federal restrictions regulating hemp\u2019s potency<\/a>\u00a0scheduled to take effect in November. Under the appropriations bill passed by Congress that reopened the federal government after a 43-day shutdown last fall, hemp products containing more than 0.4 milligrams of THC are\u00a0effectively banned\u00a0from being produced or sold.<\/p>\n

Existing state regulations allow up to 1 milligram of THC per serving of a product or 5 milligrams per package. The commission\u2019s slide deck only calls on state regulators to \u201cestablish a standard THC limit per can\u201d and \u201cestablish a limit for the maximum amount of THC a single consumer can purchase at one time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Congress is considering legislation that would\u00a0delay enforcement\u00a0of the ban for two years<\/a>, which could still allow THC-derived drinks to be sold. But even if the ban goes into effect, one hemp farmer questioned what change would even be needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur state already violates all federal laws when it comes to THC in cannabis,\u201d said Mike Simpson, co-founder of Lovewell Farms in Hopkinton. \u201cI\u2019m not sure why all of a sudden\u2026 we need to follow the law when it comes to hemp cannabis.\u201d<\/p>\n

During public comment, Cannabis Administrator Michelle Reddish acknowledged \u201cpotential changes at the national level\u201d and that state regulators have been meeting with their regional counterparts to come up with a plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are so many thoughts and ideas of what\u2019s going to happen,\u201d Reddish said. \u201cBut it\u2019s still too very early.\u201d<\/p>\n

But not early enough for Simpson, who said he\u2019s worried his business will remain caught in the regulatory crossfire.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of hard work we\u2019ve put in building this industry in the state,\u201d he said in an interview.<\/p>\n

Charon Rose, spokesperson for the state\u2019s Cannabis Office, told Rhode Island Current the goal now is to have draft recommendations finalized in the \u201ccoming weeks\u201d for members of the Cannabis Control Commission to review before sending to the General Assembly.<\/p>\n

This story was first published by Rhode Island Current.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The post Rhode Island Bars And Restaurants Push Back On Proposal To Ban Hemp THC Drink Sales<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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\u201cPutting hemp THC-derived beverages on premise at a restaurant or bar is actually the safest way to consume these products.\u201d By Christopher Shea, Rhode Island Current Rhode Island hospitality and liquor industry representatives voiced their opposition to a proposed ban on restaurants and bars serving intoxicating THC beverages during aContinue 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\/85321"}],"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=85321"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85322,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85321\/revisions\/85322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}