TEMPE, Ariz. — Any business selling THC-related products that is not a dispensary could face a felony or fines up to $20,000.
It was an enforcement action announced by Attorney General Kris Mayes back in March that went into effect a few weeks ago. Now, big box stores and small businesses have started to lose customers because of it.
Joanna Materon, the manager of Main on Mill Smoke Shop in Tempe, has multiple empty shelves where those THC-infused products were displayed, including edibles. tinctures and creams. As soon as she learned about the Mayes’ order, she immediately removed all the items.
“We definitely lost those few customers that we had,” Materon said.
The customers she would see buying this product were elderly people with chronic pain. Materon said they didn’t want high THC level edibles or creams, so they turned to hemp, where THC concentrations are at or below 0.3%. It’s not the store’s best-selling item, but she said it became popular.
Coffee shops like Wake and Bakery on Mill Avenue that sell THC-infused beverages and snacks also stopped and displayed signs in their shop saying the items are gone because cannabinoid sales are temporarily suspended.
For servicers like Tina Ulman, the CEO of Grow Up Co-Op, who markets and sells these products in multiple states, she said big box stores like Total Wine have also stopped selling these items.
“I personally have lost every single client,” Ulman said. “I’ve had to lay people off.”
Ulman said these low THC goods are preferred by those who don’t drink alcohol or for people who don’t want high concentrates.
“Not everyone wants a 30 or 80% product from a dispensary,” Ulman said. “People want something that will give them a small effect, but where they still feel in control.”
Mayes is going after any unlicensed business for selling products that contain THC. She said under Proposition 207, which legalized cannabis in Arizona back in 2020, only licensed and regulated dispensaries can sell cannabis infused products. This was done to help combat minors buying high-THC goods from smoke shops and convenience stores.
“As the top law enforcement official of Arizona, I needed to send a signal that we mean business, and we’re not going to let these businesses sell to kids,” Mayes said previously.
However, these stores and their attorneys believe what they are doing is perfectly legal.
“What is happening in Arizona is absolutely prohibition 2.0 with this Attorney General’s order,” said Julie Gunnigle, one of the attorneys representing the hemp industry.
Gunnigle is part of a lawsuit filed against the state for the enforcement action. Gunnigle said there are about 8,000 jobs related just to the cannabinoids being discussed and about $300 million in wages.
Their argument as to why selling low-THC products is legal falls under the 2018 Federal Farm Bill. Gunnigle said any shop can sell THC-infused products as long as the concentration is .3% or lower. It’s that concentration amount she said that also separates hemp from marijuana. Gunnigle and her team believe that Mayes is interpreting the law incorrectly.
While this continues to go through the courts, businesses like Materon’s are playing it safe and not selling these types of goods.
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