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Delawareans who enter a liquor store, restaurant, CBD store, smoke shop or just look online can often find a relatively new product for sale — the cannabis-infused beverage.
The intoxicating drinks, which have no alcohol, go by names such as Bliss Day, Star Gazer, BRĒZ, Enjoy, Delta and so many more.
If you drink a 12-ounce can with 10 milligrams of THC — the active ingredient in marijuana — you’ll get a slight buzz. Drink more, and you can get pretty high.
With so many liquid THC brands and strengths out there in so many types of businesses in a state that in April 2023 legalized weed, Delaware lawmakers and regulators now want to decide where it can be sold.
To that end, a bill working its way through the General Assembly would only permit liquor stores to sell the drinks. In addition, the handful of microbreweries that make their own THC-infused beverages would be allowed to sell them for “off-premises consumption.”
Should the bill pass and get signed by Gov. Matt Meyer, shoppers would no longer be able to pop into a CBD store, smoke shop or other retail store to get them, or enjoy the drinks while dining out.
Nor would adult-use marijuana stores, some of which could open later this year, be permitted to sell the marijuana product. Companies that sell THC-infused-beverages also would not be able to legally fulfill online orders from Delaware residents.
State Rep. Deborah Heffernan, lead sponsor of the legislation, said it’s important that the THC-infused drinks get tested and approved by the state before they are allowed to be sold.
The suburban Wilmington Democrat said it makes sense to permit only liquor stores to sell them.
State Rep. Deborah Heffernan’s bill would restrict the sale of cannabis-infused beverages to liquor stores and charge a tax of 50 cents per container. (State of Delaware)
Heffernan told WHYY News her proposal is both logical and workable because liquor stores are part of Delaware’s longstanding “three-tier’’ system for selling alcohol that’s shipped by approved manufacturers to approved distributors, who then deliver beer, wine and spirits to the licensed liquor stores for sale to customers.
“These beverages are everywhere in our state,’’ Heffernan said. “We need to make sure they’re safe for people to ingest and that we make sure we know what level of THC is in there.”
The bill would limit the amount of THC to 10 milligrams per 12-ounce container in an industry where some products have a much higher level of THC, up to 50 milligrams per serving.
The bill would also levy a tax of 50 cents per container. Heffernan had initially proposed charging $1 per container when she proposed the bill last month.
Without any tax, one 12-ounce can costs roughly $4 to $10, depending on the concentration of THC.
Alcohol industry supports the bill
Delaware’s alcohol industry, which has seen a decline in sales in recent years, supports the measure, and the president of its leading beer distributor spoke in favor of it at a recent House committee hearing.
“Surveying our market, many Delaware liquor stores already sell hemp-based THC-infused beverages,” testified Paul Ruggerio, who runs NKS Distributors and called for robust testing of the products. “We are not opposed to on-premises sales.”
Delaware, one of 24 states that have legalized marijuana, is just the latest to grapple with how to regulate THC-infused sodas, seltzers, teas and cocktails.
Connecticut, for example, allows them to be sold in both approved liquor stores and marijuana retailers.
In neighboring New Jersey, the state Cannabis Regulatory Commission is in the process of creating specific regulations for how and where they can be sold.
The sale of recreational marijuana remains illegal in Pennsylvania.
Heffernan’s bill is currently on the Delaware House ready list, meaning she can bring it to the floor for a vote anytime before the legislative session ends June 30. The bill needs a three-fifths vote in both the state House and Senate because it contains a tax.
State shouldn’t let liquor stores ‘capitalize on our hard work’
The bill is vehemently opposed, however, by CBD retailers and some cannabis and hemp advocates.
At Botana Organics, a CBD store north of Wilmington, a display cooler offers customers a few varieties of chilled THC-infused beverages. Owner Jesse Ginefra says customers enjoy them and should be able to continue to buy them at his shop.
“It’s kind of demoralizing,’’ Ginefra said of the bill. THC-infused drinks are “one of our hot-selling products and it’s kind of trending right now. A lot of people are looking for alternatives to alcohol.”
Ginefra said it’s unfair that the state wants to take an industry they have pioneered and let the alcohol industry “capitalize on our hard work.”
He also said he gives guidance to customers that buy the product, which they are unlikely to get from a liquor store clerk.
“I always let them know these are pretty strong so you may want to only drink half of it and then wait like another hour before you finish up the other half,’’ Ginefra said. “You can always drink more but you can’t drink less once you already drank it.”
Botana customer Gretchen Cirwithinian also doesn’t want liquor stores to have the exclusive right to sell THC-infused drinks.
“As far as them taking the THC drinks and confining them to a liquor store, that’s a problem for me because I don’t drink,’’ Cirwithian said. “For me to have to go into a liquor store, somewhere I’m not going to go patronize in the first place, it’s going to be too much work.”
Gretchen Cirwithian said she doesn’t drink alcohol and doesn’t want to have to enter a liquor store to buy a cannabis-infused drink. (Cris Barrish/WHYY)
Zoe Patchell, who runs the Delaware Cannabis Advocacy Network, said CBD stores and the 30 retail marijuana stores the state is gearing up to license should also be able to sell cannabis-infused beverages.
“A lot of these stores already safely and responsibly sell these products,’’ Patchell said. “Any business that can safely and responsibly sell these products should be permitted to do so. And certainly, the businesses who created this industry shouldn’t have their industry sold out from underneath them.”
“Furthermore, people struggling with alcohol addiction shouldn’t have to go into a package store to purchase known health and wellness products that have helped them overcome addictions like alcoholism.”
Jena Murray, a Delaware resident who is president of the U.S. Hemp Roundtable trade group, said Heffernan’s bill should be amended to let CBD stores and other retailers sell THC-infused drinks.
“The bill can be written to where liquor stores can still obtain that infused beverage endorsement to be able to sell the THC beverages, but also other stores can get an endorsement to sell a consumable hemp product,” Murray said.
James Brobyn, president of the Delaware Cannabis Industry Association, said he hopes that retail marijuana stores are eventually allowed to sell THC-infused beverages, but has decided not make that an issue while the retail industry is still trying to get on its feet.
“It’s not been super high on the priority list because it’s not going to ultimately end up being a big big seller in the dispensary channel,” Brobyn said.
“It would make sense for us to sell it and I’m not sure why the state would cut us out, but we’ll fight that fight when the time comes.”
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“}]] The beverages that give users a buzz are also being sold in restaurants, bars, CBD stores, smoke shops and online. The budding cannabis industry wants in too. Read More
