The House passed a cannabis bill last week that would permit intoxicating hemp-derived beverages to be sold in licensed Massachusetts liquor stores while ordering edible intoxicating hemp-derived products like gummies off store shelves, but critics say the legislation fails to address the core problem of enforcement at the local level.
Intoxicating hemp-derived edible products have the same active ingredient as cannabis, but are not subject to any oversight by the state Cannabis Control Commission. Sales of hemp products have proliferated across the state because of a federal loophole that defines hemp differently than cannabis.
State agencies issued guidance last spring that declared the hemp products illegal in the state, but enforcement of the ban has remained uneven, with local boards of health complaining they do not have the resources to police hemp products and take them off the shelves in their communities.
The House bill explicitly makes hemp-derived edible products illegal in the state, while allowing hemp-derived beverages to be sold in licensed liquor stores under the supervision of the state cannabis commission.
Read more at Marijuana Moment